The Merchant of Mar-a-Lago

While celebrating his signature legislative achievement, President Trump managed to wade into another ridiculous controversy this holiday weekend. In a Thursday night speech touting the benefits of the Big Beautiful Bill for family farmers, he said: “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. “They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite.”

“Shylock”, of course, refers to the Jewish character from The Merchant of Venice, who demands a pound of human flesh as repayment for a debt. Though the character is more nuanced than usually credited – this is Shakespeare, after all – he’s still been a potent representative of anti-Semitic stereotypes for hundreds of years. As the Anti-Defamation League said on X on Friday, “The term ‘Shylock’ 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.”

Trump, for his part, seemed pretty surprised by this response. “To me, Shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates,” he said later, to reporters who were grilling him. “I’ve never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I’ve never heard that.”

One the one hand, come on, Donald. However, let’s remember that Trump is nearly 80 years old. People used a lot of derogatory ethnic terms in the New York in which he grew up, most of which have fallen out of favor. “Shylock” as an insult has faded from view over the decades without anyone explicitly having to put it on the naughty list, as society has grown more illiterate and that particular play has fallen out of favor.

Trump is no Shakespearian scholar, and The Merchant of Venice is not anywhere near Cats or Les Miserables, his two favorite plays. If he saw Oliver! on Broadway, maybe he’s encountered Fagin, but it’s quite likely that the actual Shylock, the proto-Shylock, has never crossed his transom.

This situation allows Trump’s opponents to play the “he’s anti-Semitic” card, when he clearly isn’t. Google “Trump at the Wailing Wall,” and you’ll see a photo of him wearing a yarmulke. His daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism after marrying Jared Kushner. He’s gone hard in the paint after Harvard, at least partly to combat anti-Semitic elements in that institution and at other elite universities. And he risked his entire reputation, and the safety of the United States, by bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities in support of Israel. This is not the resumé of a Jew-hater.

But Shylock-gate is doubly frustrating for Jews, because we’re going through a particularly rough patch. Just last weekend, a rapper was on stage in Glastonbury chanting “death to the IDF.” My social media feed is full of images of vandalized and defaced Jewish businesses, synagogue, and cemeteries. Protesters have been harassing Jewish students constantly since October 7, 2023. It’s perfectly acceptable in circles left and right to call someone a Zionist as an insult. This week I’ve had to upbraid numerous people why it’s not acceptable to refer to “Alligator Alcatraz” as “Alligator Auschwitz.” It’s never been less physically and rhetorically safe in my lifetime to be a Jew. And now the President has to go ahead and bring the “s” word into the equation. This, too, shall pass, but we don’t need any more mishegas.

Maybe President Trump should stage a performance of The Merchant of Venice at the Kennedy Center so he can see what all the fuss is about. It’s bad enough that the world is painting Jews as genocidal monsters. The last thing we need is a return to the stereotype of hook-nosed usury. Tax breaks for family farmers are fine, but “shylocks” have nothing to do with creating the situation. Mr. President, if you prick us, do we not bleed? Thank you for your attention to this matter.