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WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump says he didn\u2019t know the term \u201cshylock\u201d is considered antisemitic when he used it in a speech to describe unscrupulous moneylenders.<\/p>\n
Trump told reporters early Friday after returning from an event in Iowa that he had \u201cnever heard it that way\u201d and \u201cnever heard that\u201d the term was considered an offensive stereotype about Jews.<\/p>\n
Shylock refers to the villainous Jewish moneylender in Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cThe Merchant of Venice\u201d who demands a pound of flesh from a debtor.<\/p>\n
The Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat antisemitism, said in a statement that the term \u201cevokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous. President Trump\u2019s use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democrat Joe Biden, while vice president,\u00a0said in 2014<\/a>\u00a0that he had made a \u201cpoor choice\u201d of words a day after he used the term in remarks to a legal aid group.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s administration has made cracking down on antisemitism a priority. His administration said\u00a0it is screening for antisemitic activity<\/a>\u00a0when granting immigration benefits and its\u00a0fight with Harvard University<\/a>\u00a0has centered on allegations from the White House that the school has tolerated antisemitism.<\/p>\n But the Republican president has also had\u00a0a history of playing on stereotypes about Jewish people.<\/a><\/p>\n He told the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2015 that \u201cyou want to control your politicians\u201d and suggested the audience used money to exert control.<\/p>\n Before he kicked off his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump drew widespread criticism for\u00a0dining at his Florida club with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist.<\/a><\/p>\n