ADL condemns the word 'shylock' without naming Trump, who used it

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a US Jewish civil rights organization founded to combat antisemitism, said on Tuesday that the term "shylock" is antisemitic. Its statement did not mention that US President Donald Trump had used the word the previous evening at a rally in Kansas.

Trump was speaking in support of Republican senator Roger Marshall, who faces a tighter-than-expected re-election race against Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton. Marshall, a doctor, has been criticized for suing more than 700 patients over unpaid bills, 18 of whom were arrested. Trump said critics had portrayed Marshall in campaign ads as "some kind of a shylock-type guy". He also falsely claimed Marshall was "mandated by law" to go after those people.

The ADL post

The ADL's short post on X, which was not shared on its other social media accounts, said the term is rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype and that, regardless of intent, its use can reinforce harmful tropes about Jews. Shylock is the Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

Criticism

Critics who accuse the ADL of applying antisemitism accusations selectively against critics of Israel suggested the group was going easy on Trump because of his support for Israel. Trump had endorsed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day before the rally, ahead of Israel's elections. Matt Duss, a former foreign policy adviser to senator Bernie Sanders, wrote that had a Democrat said it, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt would have condemned them by name.

Earlier cases

In 2014, when then vice-president Joe Biden described people who exploit US service members financially as "shylocks", the ADL's national director accepted his apology and called it "a teachable moment". Trump used the word at a 2025 rally in Iowa when talking about farmers borrowing money. The ADL then called it "very troubling and irresponsible", while Trump said he had never heard the word used in an antisemitic sense.