I find it highly probable that Trump has no idea that “Shylock” is a term drawn from a character in a Shakespeare play, since that would require a certain level of literacy.
— Jeff Greenfield (@greenfield64) July 4, 2025
The great, longtime journalist (and Jew), Greenfield obviously realizes
"Shylock" is a Jewish character in "The Merchant of Venice." In its description of the Shakespeare play, the Anti-Defamation League notes that the character, who serves as an antagonist, is frequently portrayed as a "conniving and cruel" money lender, reinforcing stereotypes of Jewish people as money-hungry and greedy.
So of course, as NBC News reported early on Independence Day
President Donald Trump used an antisemitic slur to describe
exploitative bankers during a speech Thursday as he touted congressional
passage of his massive domestic policy bill.
Trump made the remark in Des Moines, Iowa, at what was billed as an event by a nonpartisan group to kick off celebrations for next year's 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. But Trump's campaign-style speech quickly took on a partisan tone, with the president expressing "hate" for the Democrats who voted against his "big, beautiful bill."
While ticking through the bill's provisions, Trump described one aimed at protecting family farmers by allowing them to pay a reduced estate tax when transferring ownership to their children.
"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," Trump said. "They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite."
When asked by reporters after his speech about the antisemitic connotations of the term, Trump said, “I’ve never heard it that way.”
“To me, shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates” he added....
Trump's anti-Semitic remark should be understood in the context of his personal background, professional contacts, and political advisors. Donald Trump did not grow up in Wyoming, the Great Plains, or Mississippi in which Jews are practically unknown.
Instead, Donald Trump grew up in the wealthy Jamaica Estates enclave in the Jamaica section of the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. He became a real estate developer in Queens, the borough of Manhattan, and elsewhere. Aside from certain parts of southern California and Dade County, Florida, that's the greatest concentration of Jews in the USA. And when Trump was a boy and young man, the percentage of Jews in the New York area probably exceeded that even in southern California.
In real estate, Trump had numerous Jewish acquaintances and associates, unsurprising for an individual in that line of work in that region. As an actor (The Apprentice) in Hollywood, Trump could not have avoided coming into contact with a great many Jewish people if he set out to do so.
His daughter married a Jew, probably for reasons not dissimilar to those random individuals choose their mate. She converted to Judaism, very likely primarily because it was the religion of husband Jared Kushner. (Ivanka: "I really find that with Judaism, it creates an amazing blueprint for family connectivity.")
The 79-year-old Donald Trump has had a relationship with Jews throughout his life aside from- possibly- his years in military school. Yet, on July 3, he would use what the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs noted is "among he most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes."
There is less interest in William Shakespeare nowadays, especially- though not completely- because classic, including English, literature is far less taught in schools at all levels than it once was. However, most individuals reared in the 1950s and the 1960s had at least a passing knowledge of William Shakespeare. And even those who didn't have that did know what "Shylock" referred to, some invoking the term in particularly unpleasant moments.
Let's stop giving Donald Trump an out by pretending that he is illiterate or stupid. He has gotten around plenty, including with those Jews who (as with others) he believes can benefit him. He is a bigot and it's unsurprising that a guy with a whole range of prejudices would include anti-Semitism among them.
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