President Donald Trump used an antisemitic slur to describe exploitative bankers during a speech Thursday as he touted congressional passage of his massive domestic policy bill.
Trump made the remark in Des Moines, Iowa, at what was billed as an event by a nonpartisan group to kick off celebrations for next year’s 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. But Trump’s campaign-style speech quickly took on a partisan tone, with the president expressing “hate” for the Democrats who voted against his “big, beautiful bill.”
While ticking through the bill’s provisions, Trump described one aimed at protecting family farmers by allowing them to pay a reduced estate tax when transferring ownership to their children.
“No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases, a fine banker, and in some cases, Shylocks and bad people,” Trump said. “They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite.”
“Shylock” is a Jewish character in “The Merchant of Venice.” In its description of the Shakespeare play, the Anti-Defamation League notes that the character, who serves as an antagonist, is frequently portrayed as a “conniving and cruel” money lender, reinforcing stereotypes of Jewish people as money-hungry and greedy.
Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said Thursday night in a post on X that the term is “among the most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes.”
“This is not an accident. It follows years in which Trump has normalized antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories — and it’s deeply dangerous,” she added.
When asked by reporters after his speech about the antisemitic connotations of the term “Shylock,” Trump said, “I’ve never heard it that way.”
“To me, Shylock is somebody that’s a money lender and high rates” he added.
Former President Joe Biden faced backlash in 2014 for using the same term while serving as vice president. He later apologized for “poor” word choice.
The Anti-Defamation League, which criticized Biden’s remarks at the time, said Trump’s use of the term was “very troubling and irresponsible,” adding that it “underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country.”
“The term ‘Shylock’ evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous,” the ADL said in a statement on X. “Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States.”
The remark by Trump came as he delivered a more than hourlong speech praising the passage of the “big, beautiful bill,” before a cheerful crowd of several hundred supporters, some holding signs that read “Make Agriculture Great Again.”
Trump has previously faced accusations of antisemitism, including in 2024 after his former chief of staff John Kelly said Trump praised Hitler as doing “some good things, too.”
During his first term in office, Jewish groups criticized Trump after he put white supremacists chanting “Jews will not replace us” on the same level as counterprotesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017.
During his second term, Trump’s administration has created a federal task force that plans to visit 10 university campuses in a bid to “eradicate antisemitic harassment.”
The State Department has also moved to revoke visas for foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian protests, including Mahmoud Khalil who was detained for more than two months despite holding a green card, for leading protests at Columbia University.
And, the Department of Homeland Security implemented a new vetting policy in April enabling U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to consider a foreign national’s “antisemitic activity on social media” as grounds for denying immigration benefit requests, including those applying for lawful permanent resident status.
