President Donald Trump stunned observers Thursday night by reviving an anti-Jewish slur while taking a victory lap over his newly passed spending bill — then veering into a tirade against congressional Democrats, declaring bluntly, “I hate them.”
Speaking before cheering supporters in Des Moines, Trump boasted about pushing through a massive spending package that extends his 2017 tax cuts while slashing Medicaid and SNAP. In private meetings with GOP lawmakers the day before, Trump had reportedly been unaware of nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts buried in the bill.
In his rally speech, Trump praised the bill’s elimination of the estate tax, telling the crowd: “No death tax, no estate tax. No going to the banks and borrowing from — in some cases — a fine banker, in some cases, shylocks and bad people.”
The term shylock — drawn from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice — has long been recognized as a deeply antisemitic trope for portraying Jews as greedy, predatory moneylenders.
Trump continued, saying these “shylocks and bad people” had “destroyed a lot of families” before pivoting to a scorched-earth attack on Democrats, who unanimously opposed the spending bill.
“Not one Democrat voted for us,” Trump fumed. “We’re gonna use it in the campaign that’s coming up, the midterm, because we’ve gotta beat them. But all of the things that we’ve given, and they wouldn’t vote, only because they hate Trump. But I hate them too. You know that? I really do. I hate them. I cannot stand them because I really believe they hate our country.”
President Donald Trump says he didn’t know the term “shylock” is considered antisemitic when he used it. “No, I’ve never heard it that way. To me, a shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates. I’ve never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I’ve never heard that,” Trump said.
The Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat antisemitism, said in a statement that the term “evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous. President Trump’s use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible.”
Democrat Joe Biden, while vice president, said in 2014 that he had made a “poor choice” of words a day after he used the term in remarks to a legal aid group.
Trump’s administration has made cracking down on antisemitism a priority. His administration said it is screening for antisemitic activity when granting immigration benefits and its fight with Harvard University has centered on allegations from the White House that the school has tolerated antisemitism.
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15 Responses
Heads will be exploding in TDS land!
Says the man who has a copy of Mein Kampf on his bedside table.
I always knew Trump was an antisemite. His daughter being Jewish, Jewish grandchildren, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, assisting Israel with Iran, destroying the nuclear reactor, publicly defending Bibi and being the most pro Israel president ever was all a ruse, all a cover for his disgust and hatred of the Jewish people. Thank you YWN for informing us of his true feelings.
Can someone explain why YWN engages in clickbate. I don’t get it. I assume they have many many views. Why do they feature these stupid stories? Doesn’t make sense.
Biden was an antisemite. When he used the word Shylock there were no headlines about it, since Big Media are also antisemitic and they covered for Biden.
The same screaming about how anti-Semitic Trump is for using a term from Shakespeare would also scream were Shakespeare himself be accused of being an antisemite who deserves to have his books banned.
I just wasted 3 minutes of my reading this article, these YWN writers should go find a normal job asap!
Every time he is caught in an anti-semitic slur or cozying up to a rabid anti-semite he invokes the same excuse….”I didn’t know”….Whether it was David Duke’s endorsement, or the “good people on BOTH sides in the Williamsburg Va “Jews will not replace us” rally or inviting Kanye West and his anti-semitic buddies to lunch or whatever the same story….I didn’t know Shylock was the Jewish moneylender villian in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice.
Rinse, wash, repeat.
Here we go.
Miranda warning for Jews.
“You have the right to infer an insult when none was intended.”
These words become mainstream & is almost always used with zero thought of a connection to Jews. But we love to complain. It’s what we do!!!
I guess he never read Shakespeare Merchant of Venice
seems more like he understands shylock as a greedy banker, and not having to do with Jews specifically
“Good Samaritan” is even more anti Jewish.
So is a cross. Much more than a swastika.
His real name was “Shayala”, which became “Shylock”
If the American people wanted a president who was familiar with Shakespeare, they could have elected one. Instead they preferred someone whose taste run more toward violent combat sports and football.
His daughter being Jewish, Jewish grandchildren, moving the embassy to Jerusalem, assisting Israel with Iran, destroying the nuclear reactor, publicly defending Bibi and being the most pro Israel president ever!
Yes MayBeWrong , that’s all that’s needed to be said.