ADL condemns ‘Shylock’ slur after Trump’s Kansas rally without naming him

The Anti-Defamation League condemned the term ‘Shylock’ as antisemitic on Tuesday, 20 October, without naming President Donald Trump, who had used it at a rally for Senator Roger Marshall in Park City, Kansas, the previous night, according to the Guardian. ABC News independently reported that Trump spoke at the Marshall rally on Monday, 19 October.

The Guardian quoted the ADL’s post as saying the term is ‘rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype’. The group said its use, regardless of intent, can reinforce harmful tropes about Jews and normalize language long used to target Jewish people. The post did not identify Trump or explain why his name was omitted.

What Trump said at the Roger Marshall rally

The rally supported Marshall’s re-election campaign against Democrat Adam Hamilton. It took place in Park City, about 10 miles north of Wichita, ABC reported.

How the ADL responded to earlier uses of the term

Trump used the term at an Iowa rally in 2025, according to the Guardian. The ADL then called his language ‘very troubling and irresponsible’. Asked afterward whether he meant the word as a reference to Jews, Trump said he had never heard it used that way and understood it to mean a moneylender charging high rates.

The Guardian also recalled a 2014 episode in which then Vice-President Joe Biden used ‘shylocks’ to describe people exploiting US service members. After Biden apologized, the ADL’s national director called the remarks ‘a teachable moment’.

Matt Duss, a former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, criticized the ADL for omitting Trump’s name, the Guardian reported. Duss suggested its president would have condemned a Democrat by name. The ADL did not give a reason for its wording on Tuesday.