US President Donald Trump has stirred up another controversy.
This time, by using the word "shylock" to decry amoral money lenders.
On Thursday night in his speech in Iowa, Trump used the term "shylock" while talking about his signature legislation that was passed by Congress earlier in the day.
"No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing some from, in some cases, a fine banker and in some cases shylocks and bad people," he said.
"They took away a lot of, a lot of family. They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite."
When a reporter later asked about the word's "anti-Semitic" association and his intent, Trump said; "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."
Shylock refers to the villainous Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" who demands a pound of flesh from a debtor, merchant Antonio, if he failed to repay a loan.
Trump told reporters early on Friday after returning from an event in Iowa that he had "never heard it that way" and "never heard that" the term was considered an offensive stereotype about Jews.
Pro-Israeli Zionist group, the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement that the term "evokes a centuries-old anti-Semitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous. President Trump's use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible."
The Anti-Defamation League said Trump's use of the word "underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country. Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States."
Conflating Israel criticism as anti-Semitism
The Trump administration has prioritised cracking down on anti-Semitism, although critics caution against conflating criticism of Israel's genocide in Gaza with anti-Semitism.
On US campuses, where students and scholars have led large pro-Palestine and anti-genocide protests last year, criticising Israel's policies has become impossible without being labelled as anti-Semitic.
In 2023, the University of Pennsylvania blocked a documentary screening critical of Israel.
Brandeis University, despite pledging commitment to free speech, barred a pro-Palestinian student group due to statements from its national chapter.
The University of Vermont cancelled a talk by a Palestinian poet after some students falsely claimed he was anti-Semitic.
American colleges have clamped down on pro-Palestine protests and events on campus, as the institutions face pressure from donors, alumni and politicians, furious over criticism of Israel's genocide in Gaza, which they falsely claim is an anti-Semitic campaign against Jews.
Many other campuses have also taken a hard line on pro-Palestine and anti-war groups.
Trump, Biden controversies
Trump's administration has, meanwhile, said it is screening for alleged anti-Semitism activity when granting immigration benefits and its fight with Harvard University has centered on allegations from the White House that the school has tolerated anti-Semitism.
He told the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015 that "you want to control your politicians" and suggested the audience used money to exert control.
Before he kicked off his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump drew widespread criticism for dining at his Florida club with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist.
Last year, Trump made repeated comments accusing Jewish Americans who identify as Democrats of disloyalty because of the Democratic leaders' criticisms of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Democrat Joe Biden, while vice president, said in 2014 that he had made a "poor choice" of words a day after he used "shylocks" in remarks to a legal aid group.
Biden had mentioned this in a speech, recounting his son's time in Iraq. He met soldiers needing legal aid for issues at home.
"I mean these shylocks who took advantage of, um, these women and men while overseas," he said at the time.
