‘Not an Accident!’ Trump Sparks Fury by Reviving Antisemitic Trope at Rally

(Screengrab via X)

President Donald Trump once again used the term “Shylock” at a campaign rally Monday night, more than a year after drawing condemnation for the same remark and insisting he had never heard that it carried antisemitic connotations.

Trump deployed the term while defending Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) at a rally in Park City, Kansas, after a New York Times investigation scrutinized the former obstetrician’s medical practice for suing hundreds of patients over unpaid bills.

“And [the press] made it like, oh, he was some kind of a Shylock-type guy,” Trump told the crowd.

The term derives from the Jewish moneylender in William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice and has long been used as a derogatory stereotype associating Jews with greed and predatory lending.

Trump argued Marshall had been unfairly attacked over his practice’s efforts to recover unpaid medical debt, saying the senator had done “nothing wrong” and complaining about campaign advertisements focused on the issue.

The remark quickly drew criticism online. Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, noted that Trump had previously faced criticism over precisely the same language: “Not an accident. He has consistently normalized antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes.”

Former Republican strategist Tim Miller dryly noted: “Strong endorsement from the president. Marshall was simply reporting people to law enforcement for medical debt he was not a ‘shylock’.”

Former ally turned critic George Conway responded: “Oy vay iz mir.”

The Bulwark editor Brendan Hartnett pointed to the contrast with Republican attacks on Michigan Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed:

Others also piled on to slam the remark:

Trump first sparked controversy over the term at an Iowa rally in July 2025 while discussing banks and estate taxes, when he quipped: “Think of that: no death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowings from in some cases a fine banker. And in some cases, Shylocks and bad people.”

The Anti-Defamation League responded that the term “evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous,” calling Trump’s language “very troubling and irresponsible.”

Asked about the criticism the following day, Trump denied knowing the word had antisemitic associations: “I’ve never heard it that way.”

“To me, Shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates,” he said at the time. “You view it differently than me. I’ve never heard that.”

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