President Donald Trump used the term "Shylock," which the Anti-Defamation League and others describe as an antisemitic stereotype, at a rally Monday in Park City, Kansas, while defending Republican Sen. Roger Marshall against criticism of his lawsuits against patients over unpaid medical bills.1,2,3,4
Trump said Marshall had been "given a bum rap because he was mandated by law to request strongly money owed from patients." He added, "You're not allowed not to do it. You have to by law go after these people, and they made it, like, oh, he was some kind of a Shylock-type guy."3,4
Shylock is a Jewish character in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" who is portrayed as a cunning moneylender. The Anti-Defamation League, in a guide for educators, says that "Shylock, and by extension, all Jews, are presented as money-hungry, conniving, and cruel."3
Trump had used the same term before. In a speech last year about a bill he was trying to pass, he distinguished between bankers, saying, "No going to the banks and borrowing from in some cases a fine banker, and in some cases Shylocks and bad people." When reporters later questioned him about the term's antisemitic origins, Trump said he had "never heard that."1,3
Marshall, a physician before he entered politics, has faced criticism for suing hundreds of patients over unpaid medical bills, including pursuing criminal charges over debts as small as $101. The lawsuits were the subject of the remarks Trump made in Kansas, and Trump has defended Marshall for going after the unpaid bills, saying the senator was required by law to do so.3,4
The criticism has given Democrats an opening in a Kansas Senate seat that is normally considered safe for Republicans. The Democratic nominee, Adam Hamilton, a pastor, is polling neck and neck with Marshall, according to the polling average cited by The New Republic.3
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the remark but did not mention Trump by name, according to the headline of a Guardian article on the group's response.5
The accounts available did not make clear whether Marshall or the White House had responded to the remarks, and it was not immediately clear whether Trump would address the term again.1,4
Trump's remarks were reported as a repeat of his earlier use of the word. The Washington Examiner's headline described the rally remark as Trump "again" using the term, while NBC News noted the earlier speech in its own coverage.1,2
Hamilton has used Marshall's record on medical debt as a central point of his campaign. At a debate with Marshall last month, Hamilton said, "There are 2,000 verses in the Bible that speak to caring for the poor. This is not happening under this man."3