Trump Uses 'Shylock' Term to Defend Marshall at Kansas Rally
President Donald Trump wanted to defend Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) at a rally Monday, but did so using an antisemitic slur. It has been reported Marshall sued patients for med… — by Sandra Rhodes
FaithTap · Oct 21, 2026 · 2 min read
By Sandra Rhodes (/journals/sandra-rhodes)
President Donald Trump wanted to defend Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) at a rally Monday, but did so using an antisemitic slur.
It has been reported Marshall sued patients for medical debt as an obstetrician-gynecologist.
"They made it like, oh, he was some kind of a shylock guy," Trump said in Kansas. Marshall, who is running for reelection, is not Jewish.
Trump has apparently used this term before. The word is deemed an antisemitic slur by the Anti-Defamation League.
Trump used it at an event in July 2025 in Iowa to kick off America 250 celebrations when he described some bankers as "shylocks."
This sparked outrage by anti-bigotry groups.
"President Trump's use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible," the Anti-Defamation League wrote in a July 2025 statement. "It underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country. Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States."
The Anti-Defamation League posted a new statement on Oct. 20, but left out the president's name.
"The term 'Shylock' is rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype. Regardless of intent, its use can reinforce harmful tropes about Jews and normalize language that has long been used to target the Jewish community,” it wrote.
The term, which is capitalized, comes from the name of a moneylender character in William Shakespeare's play “The Merchant of Venice.”
The Meriam-Webster dictionary says that the term has evolved to now be "considered offensive" and "understood to be rooted in ancient anti-semitic stereotypes."
When questioned by reporters in 2025, Trump said he “never heard that” the word is considered antisemitic and defended himself, adding that "The meaning of shylock is somebody that's a money lender at high rates. You view it differently. I've never heard that."
On Oct. 20, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a national advocacy coalition for Jewish communities posting on X that, "A year after being called out for using the antisemitic term 'Shylock' and claiming he didn’t know it was problematic, Trump has used it again. This is not an accident. Normalizing antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories is deeply dangerous."