Photo: Eric Connolly, U.S. House Office of Photography / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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Analysis
President Donald Trump used the word “shylock” at a Kansas rally on Oct. 19 while defending Sen. Roger Marshall, drawing a rebuke from Sen. Chuck Schumer and a new statement from the Anti-Defamation League. The remark lands in a Senate race that forecasters rate as competitive, with control of the chamber in play.
Analysis
President Donald Trump used the word “shylock” at a Kansas campaign rally on Oct. 19 while defending Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican, according to NBC Chicago, The Hill and the Spokesman-Review. Marshall has faced criticism over reports that he sued patients for unpaid bills while practicing medicine. Schumer, a New York Democrat, called Trump’s use of the word “disgusting.” The Anti-Defamation League issued a new statement on Oct. 20 saying the term is offensive.
What the reports show
Trump’s defense of Marshall had a legal claim at its center, according to The Hill. He said Marshall was “mandated by law” to pursue money owed. The Hill quoted him: “You’re not allowed not to do it.” The reports did not say whether any law required that.
NBC reported that Trump told Marshall onstage, “You got screwed with that stuff.” Trump did not name The New York Times, according to NBC.
The accounts of the underlying story differ in detail. NBC said the Times reported scores of arrest warrants for missed court dates. The Spokesman-Review said dozens of former patients were jailed. NBC reported that Marshall’s lawyer said Marshall had no involvement in the warrants or arrests.
This is not the first time. Trump used the word last year while promoting his domestic policy bill, according to NBC and The Hill. He said then that he had “never heard it that way.” NBC also quoted him saying, “To me, shylock is somebody that’s a moneylender at high rates.”
The ADL said last year that Trump’s use of the term was “very troubling and irresponsible,” The Hill reported. Its new statement did not name the president. It said: “Regardless of intent, its use can reinforce harmful tropes about Jews.”
Both parties have faced this. According to The Hill and NBC, then-Vice President Joe Biden used the word in 2014 and later apologized.
The Hill also reported that Trump and Republicans have tried to win Jewish voters this cycle, hitting Democrats in some key races over Israel. The Hill said CNN’s Harry Enten pointed to surveys of Jewish voters in New York showing Democrats losing support.
The race behind the remark
Marshall faces Democrat Adam Hamilton, a megachurch pastor and former Republican. NBC reported that Hamilton has won backing from influential Republicans and Democrats around Kansas.
Predictions vary. According to The Hill, Decision Desk HQ, one of its partners, puts Marshall’s chances of winning at 65 percent. The Cook Political Report describes the contest as a “toss-up,” while NBC News classifies it as leaning Republican.
The Spokesman-Review reported that Kansas Republicans have gone 94 years without losing a U.S. Senate race. It said Trump carried the state by more than 16% in 2024.
The same report said Democrats probably need to win four seats now held by Republicans to take back the Senate. Vice President JD Vance would cast any tie-breaking vote. It said Maine and North Carolina have long been seen as targets. It added that Democrats now lead or are tied in Kansas, Texas, Ohio, Alaska and Iowa.
The take
This section is analysis and opinion.
Start with the word. The ADL says it evokes an old stereotype about Jews and greed. Trump has given his own account of what he thinks it means. A party that says it opposes bigotry should say plainly that the word is a bad choice, whoever uses it. Biden apologized in 2014. The same standard applies to a Republican president. The reports did not say whether Trump or Marshall has addressed the word since the rally.
Now the substance, which matters more to Kansas voters. A doctor who seeks payment for services is practicing the free enterprise conservatives defend. That is not the question here. The question is how a medical bill ended in arrest warrants and, by one account, jail time. The reports differ on whether people were jailed over unpaid accounts or over missed court dates.
Conservatives who want limited government should want a clear answer. Who asked a court to act? Who decided to pursue the cases? Marshall’s lawyer says Marshall had no part in the warrants or arrests. If court records bear that out, voters should hear it. If they do not, voters should hear that too.
Trump’s claim that the law forced Marshall’s hand is a factual claim. The reports did not test it. Until someone does, it is a defense, not a finding.
The Spokesman-Review wrote that the debt cases make Marshall seem out of touch on the cost of living. That is that outlet’s judgment, and voters will make their own. But a close race in a state this red shows how much cost-of-living pressure can matter. Every day spent on one word is a day not spent on the debt cases themselves.
What to watch
- The White House. It did not respond to requests for comment from The Hill or NBC.
- Marshall’s campaign. Watch whether he addresses the word, and whether he or his lawyer produce records on the warrants.
- The forecasts. Decision Desk HQ puts Marshall at 65 percent, and Cook calls the race a toss-up. A change in either would signal how voters are reacting.
- The other Senate races. Texas, Ohio, Alaska, Iowa, Maine and North Carolina will help decide whether Democrats reach the four seats they need.
- Election Day. The result in Kansas will settle which of the competing forecasts was closer.
This story is developing and will be updated.
Sources
What it means for you
- If the forecasts hold, Kansas could be one of the closer Senate races: Decision Desk HQ gives Marshall a 65 percent chance, and Cook Political Report calls it a toss-up.
- If Democrats need four Republican-held seats to take the Senate, as the Spokesman-Review reports, a competitive Kansas race could weigh on control of the chamber.
- If the debt cases stay in the news, medical debt could become a bigger campaign issue, since the reports differ on whether patients were jailed or faced warrants for missed court dates, and Marshall’s lawyer says he had no part in the warrants.
- If the White House responds or new records on the debt cases emerge, the story could shift.