President Donald Trump pushed back at criticism for his use of an anti-Semitic term during his Iowa rally, saying he had ‘never heard it that way.’
He used the term while referencing unscrupulous bankers as he touted the impacts of his ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which Congress had approved 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.
He sparked outrage over his use of ‘shylocks,’ which refers to loan sharks and is considered offensive, playing on stereotypes of Jews and money.
Trump said he had never heard it used that way.
‘I’ve never heard it that way,’ he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews after his rally.
‘The meaning of Shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates. You view it differently. I’ve never heard that.’
Shylock is a Jewish character in William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ He is portrayed as a villain and demands a ‘pound of flesh’ from another character who is unable to repay a loan.
Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, slammed Trump for using an ‘anti-Semitic stereotype.’
‘Shylock is among the most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes. This is not an accident. It follows years in which Trump has normalized antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories — and it’s deeply dangerous,’ she wrote on social media.
Trump has been accused of anti-Semitism but he is also close to the Jewish people.
His daughter Ivanka converted to Jewish with her marriage to Jared Kushner. They are raising their children as Jewish.
The president also has signed executive orders combating antisemitism and cracked down on universities that allowed pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses.
Before his rally he met with Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American who was held hostage during the Gaza war.
And, on Monday, he will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House to push for an end to the war in Gaza.
Trump is not the only politician to have used the word.
Then-Vice President Joe Biden used it in a 2014 speech while discussing his son’s experience serving in Iraq and meeting members of the military who were in need of legal help because of problems back at home.
‘I mean these Shylocks who took advantage of, um, these women and men while overseas,’ Biden said at the time.
He, too, was heavily criticized. Biden ultimately apologized for his words.