ADL condemns Trump’s antisemitic slur but fails to mention him by name
Anti-Defamation League post decries ‘shylock’ slur but does not explain that president used it at Kansas rally on Monday The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) denounced the use of the term “shylock” as antisemitic on Tuesday, without explaining that the slur had been used a day earlier by Donald Trump in a speech in Kansas. Trump used the slur during a Monday night rally in support of Republican senator Roger Marshall…
Key points
- The ADL condemned the term 'shylock' as antisemitic without naming Donald Trump, who used it at a Kansas rally.
- Trump used the slur while defending Senator Roger Marshall over lawsuits against patients with unpaid bills.
- Critics said the ADL was going easy on Trump because of his support for Israel.
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the term "shylock" as antisemitic on Tuesday, but its social media post did not mention that Donald Trump had used the slur a day earlier at a rally in Kansas. The ADL made the post on X and not on its other social media accounts.
Trump used the term at a Monday night rally for Republican senator Roger Marshall, who is in a closer-than-expected re-election race against Democrat Adam Hamilton. Marshall has been criticized for lawsuits against more than 700 patients with outstanding bills, which led to 18 arrests.
What Trump said at the rally
Trump said Marshall's critics, by highlighting the patient lawsuits in campaign ads, "made it like, oh, he was some kind of a shylock-type guy". He also falsely claimed Marshall was "mandated by law" to "go after those people".
The ADL said the term is rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype and that its use can reinforce harmful tropes about Jews regardless of intent. The organization was founded to combat antisemitism.
The term ‘Shylock’ is rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype
— the Anti-Defamation League
Criticism of the ADL response
Critics who accuse the ADL of using antisemitism accusations selectively suggested the group was going easy on Trump because of his support for Israel. Trump endorsed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day before the Kansas rally.
Matt Duss, a former foreign policy adviser to senator Bernie Sanders, said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt would have condemned a Democrat by name. In 2014, the ADL accepted an apology from then vice-president Joe Biden after he used the term.
Trump also used the slur at a 2025 rally in Iowa. The ADL called that use "very troubling and irresponsible", and Trump later said he had never heard the word used to refer to Jews.
