President Donald Trump used an antisemitic slur Monday in defending Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., after an article said he sued hundreds of patients over unpaid debts when he was a practicing physician.
\n\nSpeaking at a campaign rally in Kansas, Trump said the reporting made Marshall, who is not Jewish, out to be “some kind of a shylock-type guy,” using a term widely recognized as offensive toward Jewish people.
\n\nThe White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s remarks.
\n\nTrump used the same slur last year in a speech to describe exploitative bankers as he was promoting his sweeping domestic policy bill. Some Jewish groups denounced his use of the term.
\n\n“Shylock” is a Jewish character in William Shakespeare’s play “The Merchant of Venice” sometimes called a usurer. The Anti-Defamation League, in a guide for educators teaching the play, says, “Shylock, and by extension, all Jews, are presented as money-hungry, conniving, and cruel.”
\n\nTrump at the time denied having knowledge of the antisemitic connotations of the term, saying he had “never heard it that way” and adding, “To me, shylock is somebody that’s a moneylender at high rates.”
\n\nFormer President Joe Biden faced backlash in 2014…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/