Trump’s “Sherlock” comment sparks protests from Jewish groups

U.S. President Donald Trump raised criticism from Jewish groups after he used anti-Semitism at the rally.

Trump described some bankers as “Sherlock” at his Iowa event. He said he did not realize it was offensive afterwards. Shylock is the ruthless Jewish lender in Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of Jewish Anti-Discrimination Monitor said the president’s use of defamation was “very disturbing.”

Former U.S. President Joe Biden used the term Shylock as a vice president and later admitted that it was inappropriate.

At a rally in Des Moines on Thursday, Trump passed Congress this week to celebrate his budget bill.

“Think about this: no death tax,” he said. “There is no inheritance tax. In some cases, not borrowing money from the bank, in some cases it’s Sherlock and the bad guys.”

After the rally, when the Republican president returned to Washington, D.C. on Air Force One, reporters asked about his use of the term. He said he didn’t know it was anti-Semitic.

“No, I’ve never heard that,” the president said. “To me, Sherlock is a lender with a high tax rate.

“I’ve never heard that. You see it differently from me. I’ve never heard of it.”

Congressman Daniel Goldman, a New York Democrat, called Trump’s rhetoric “blatant and evil anti-Semitism, and Trump knew exactly what he was doing.”

“The word ‘Shylock’ evokes centuries of anti-Semitists about Jews and greed, which is extremely offensive and dangerous,” ADL said in an article on X.

“President Trump’s use of the term is very disturbing and irresponsible.”

Amy Spitalnick, head of the Jewish Public Affairs Council, said on X that the sentence was “very dangerous”.

“Sherlock is one of the most typical anti-Semitism stereotypes,” she said. “It’s not accidental.

“There has since been normalized anti-Semitic slope and conspiracy theories.”

Trump’s allies have previously made any suggestions about him being anti-Semitic, pointing to his steadfast support for Israel, and his close advisers, including Stephen Miller and Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are Jewish.

The president’s administration launched a campaign to eliminate anti-Semitism on university campuses, withhold federal funds from some institutions, such as Harvard University, and take steps to expel pro-Palestinian activists on U.S. visas.

At the time Democratic President Biden, a Democrat, used the term Sherlock in 2014 when he spoke to a legal organization.

“People would come to him and talk about what happened to them at home,” he said, referring to his son’s experience of serving in Iraq, “in terms of the bad loans that exist – I mean, these Sherlock people who use these men and women while they are overseas.”

Then, Biden said: “This is a bad word choice.”