Trump uses term viewed as antisemitic slur to refer to unscrupulous bankers [View all]

[dalton99a]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/04/trump-rally-jewish-stereotype/

Trump uses term viewed as antisemitic slur to refer to unscrupulous bankers
President Donald Trump deployed the term during a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds held to kick off a year of events culminating in America’s 250th birthday celebration.
July 4, 2025 at 1:07 a.m. EDT
By Matt Viser and Cat Zakrzewski

President Donald Trump used a term many consider to be an antisemitic slur while referencing unscrupulous bankers during a campaign-style rally in Iowa on Thursday night, held to kick off a year-long celebration leading up to the nation’s 250th birthday.

Trump deployed the language while touting the impacts of his signature legislation that had just passed Congress hours earlier.

“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,” he said, going on to thank Republicans who championed the legislation and detail the savings he expected it would achieve.

When asked about his use of the term after he got off Air Force One, he said that he has “never heard that” the word could be considered antisemitic.

“I’ve never heard it that way,” he said. “The meaning of Shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates. You view it differently. I’ve never heard that.”

The word refers to loan sharks and has long been considered offensive, playing on stereotypes of Jews and money. Shylock is a Jewish character from Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” who is cast as a villain and demands a “pound of flesh” from another character who is unable to repay a loan.

...