Donald Trump uses antisemitic slur to defend Senator Roger Marshall

During a campaign rally in Kansas, Donald Trump used the antisemitic trope “Shylock” to defend Republican Senator Roger Marshall against criticism regarding his medical billing practices. Marshall, an obstetrician-gynecologist, has faced scrutiny following reports that he filed lawsuits against hundreds of patients for unpaid medical bills and charged an 18 percent annual interest rate.

Trump claimed that Marshall was “mandated by law” to pursue these debts and suggested that failure to do so would have resulted in criminal arrest. However, fact-checkers and legal experts noted that no such law exists, as doctors have wide latitude to forgive debts or use gentler collection methods.

The use of the term “Shylock”—a character from Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” often used to reinforce harmful stereotypes about Jewish people and money—drew sharp condemnation from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which stated that such language legitimizes prejudice and conspiracy theories.