Overview
- President Trump used the word “shylock” while defending Sen. Roger Marshall at a campaign rally in Park City, Kansas, on Monday and linked his remarks to recent reporting about Marshall’s past medical-practice billing.
- The New York Times reported that Marshall and his former practice sued more than 700 patients, a story Marshall called a “hit job” while his lawyer denied he was involved in warrants or arrests tied to those suits.
- The term “Shylock” comes from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice and is widely seen as an antisemitic trope, a point the Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish groups publicly criticized after the remark.
- The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and critics noted this was not the first time Trump used the term when speaking publicly about lenders or critics.
- Marshall faces a closer-than-expected race against Democrat Adam Hamilton, and analysts say the renewed controversy could intensify media scrutiny and voter attention in a contest the Cook Political Report calls a toss-up.