Trump Demanded To Apologize After Using 'Extremely Offensive & Dangerous' Antisemitic Slur at Rally

While speaking at an Iowa rally, President Donald Trump used an outdated antisemitic slur — "shylock" — in reference to unethical bankers, a term that was condemned as "extremely offensive and dangerous."

"No estate tax, no going through the banks and borrowing from—in some cases a fine banker—and in some cases a shylocks and bad people," Trump told a crowd in Iowa on Thursday evening.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) responded early Friday morning, describing Trump's use of the word as "very troubling and irresponsible."

"The term 'Shylock' evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous," the ADL posted on X. "Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States."

Online, the ADL's response was criticized by some as "tepid," "cowardly," and "a nothing burger of a statement."

"An immediate apology from Trump for his use of the antisemitic slur is the minimum," wrote journalist Keith Olbermann.

Olbermann contrasted Trump's use of the term with a 2014 incident, when former President Joe Biden said, "These Shylocks took advantage of these women and men while overseas," referencing unscrupulous lending in Iraq.

"The ADL demanded and immediately got an apology from Vice President Biden," Olbermann wrote.

Biden indeed issued a swift and unequivocal apology, noting his friendship with Abe Foxman, the ADL's national director at the time. "Abe Foxman has been a friend and adviser of mine for a long time. He's correct, it was a poor choice of words, particularly as he said coming from 'someone as friendly to the Jewish community and open and tolerant an individual as is Vice President Joe Biden.' He's right."

"Shylock represents the medieval stereotype about Jews and remains an offensive characterization to this day," Foxman said in 2014. "The Vice President should have been more careful."

The term "Shylock" comes from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, where the character is depicted as a Jewish moneylender and villain—a portrayal that has fueled antisemitic stereotypes for centuries. As noted by commentator Brian Krassenstein, the Nazis used the character in propaganda broadcasts after Kristallnacht in 1938 to reinforce these hateful ideas.

The present-day ADL has faced scrutiny for its permissive relationship with the Trump administration. In January, the ADL defended Elon Musk on the day of Trump's inauguration when he made a gesture widely interpreted as a Nazi salute, describing it as "an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute."

Trump has been criticized for his unapologetic use of insensitive and racist rhetoric in the past. On Friday, he addressed his use of the term upon his return to Washington.

"I've never heard it that way. To me, Shylock is somebody that's a money lender at high rates," Trump told reporters. "I've never heard it that way, you view it differently than me. I've never heard that."