Trump Rails Against ‘Shylocks And Bad People’ In Iowa Speech

US President Donald Trump delivers remarks on July 3, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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President Donald Trump employed a term often used as a slur against Jewish people as he blasted bankers during a speech in Iowa on Thursday evening. The remark came as he was touting tax cuts in his so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Congress passed earlier in the day. 

“No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases, a fine banker and in some cases shylocks and bad people,” Trump said, adding, “They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite.”

The term “shylock” traces back to a Jewish character in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. That portrayal was widely seen as a negative stereotype associating Jews with unethical money lending. The term has been considered a slur for years and has previously caused political controversy, including when it was used by then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2014. 

Trump made his comments while speaking in Des Moines, Iowa at a “Salute to America” celebration ahead of the Independence Day holiday. Much of his remarks, which are ongoing as of this writing, touted his “Big Beautiful Bill,” which included tax cuts and an increased budget for immigration enforcement along with steep cuts to social programs including Medicaid and SNAP.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump’s remarks.

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  1. Avatar for ajm ajm says:

    Trump is a bad person.

  2. Trump should be asked what he meant by Shylock and if he understands its origin and meaning. He will probably explain how much he loves living at Mar-a-Lago.

  3. He and his crew of deplorables are not even pretending anymore. The dementia makes him say the quiet parts out loud.

  4. From the guardian…

    "Early in his remarks, which are ongoing, Trump railed against estate taxes, which he said sometimes force people who inherit farms to have to borrow money from banks to pay the tax. The tax-and-spending bill passed by the House on Thursday slightly raises the estate tax exemption.

    The president then envisioned a brighter future in which there would be no such tax and so “no going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases a fine banker, and in some cases shylocks and bad people”."
    … … … … …
    This is getting air play.
    His racism and anti Semitism is on display

  5. And, it’s the major universities that need to be shaken down for their antisemitism?

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