PARK CITY, Kan. — President Donald Trump referenced an antisemitic stereotype while defending Senator Roger Marshall, a first-term Republican from Kansas, at a rally Monday as the senator seeks reelection. Trump used the term "Shylock-type guy" in response to criticism of Marshall’s aggressive debt collection practices stemming from his previous career as an obstetrician-gynecologist.

Recent reports have highlighted that Marshall filed lawsuits against more than 700 patients for unpaid medical bills over several decades. According to The New York Times, Marshall charged an 18 percent annual interest rate and took actions including garnishing paychecks and bank accounts to recover debts. Trump dismissed the criticism as unfair, arguing that Marshall had been fulfilling legal obligations.

“He’s a fine person,” Trump said, asserting that Marshall was “mandated by law to request, strongly, money owed from patients.” Trump added, “You’re not allowed not to do it. You have to, by law, go after those people.” In using the term "Shylock," Trump invoked a character from Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” a Jewish moneylender historically associated with negative stereotypes about greed and usury.

Legal experts and patient advocates note that doctors have significant discretion in managing unpaid bills and are not legally required to pursue lawsuits or debt collection aggressively. The use of the term "Shylock" has drawn criticism from Jewish advocacy groups. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a statement on social media describing the term as rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype. The ADL emphasized that regardless of intent, the usage of such language can perpetuate harmful tropes and normalize rhetoric targeting the Jewish community.

This is not the first instance in which Trump has employed the term publicly. Last year during a rally in Iowa, he mentioned that farmers should not have to borrow from “in some cases, Shylocks and bad people.” At that time, Trump said he was unaware that the term was considered an antisemitic slur.

Marshall, who is not Jewish, has not publicly responded to Trump’s remarks or the controversy surrounding his debt collection practices. The issue has become a focal point in his re-election campaign amid broader scrutiny over healthcare costs and patient billing practices.