Trump uses antisemitism slur ‘Shylock’ in rally, denies knowing it’s offensive
The word is borrowed from Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’ and refers to a Jewish character portrayed as a ruthless moneylender
US President Donald Trump used an antisemitism slur during a rally in Iowa as he celebrated the passage of his tax cuts and spending bill but insisted he did not know the word was offensive to Jewish people.
“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 told the crowd on Thursday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.
The term “Shylock” is borrowed from William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. The tale features a Jewish character, who is portrayed as a ruthless moneylender demanding “a pound of flesh” from a merchant unable to repay a loan.
The word refers to loan sharks and has long been considered offensive, playing on stereotypes of Jews and greed.
The Trump controversy echoes a similar incident in 2014 when then-Vice-President Joe Biden used the term while describing exploitative lenders. Biden later apologised, calling it “a poor choice of words”.
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“We see once again how deeply embedded this stereotype about Jews is in society,” Abraham Foxman, then-director of a Jewish activist group, the Anti-Defamation League, said at the time.