The Anti-Defamation League was heavily criticized on social media Tuesday for its post condemning the use of “a longstanding antisemitic stereotype” that reinforces “harmful tropes about Jews,” but not mentioning who said it.

The “longstanding antisemitic stereotype” the ADL referenced comes by way of the William Shakespeare play “The Merchant of Venice,” which features a Jewish villain whose name is now considered a slur against Jewish people.

The ADL was forced to comment after President Donald Trump used the term at a rally Monday night for embattled Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas.

Trump defended Marshall over reports that the former doctor had sued more than 700 patients for debts when he worked as an OB-GYN and had dozens arrested for missing court dates.

“He was given a bum rap, because he was mandated by law to request — strongly — money owed from patients,” Trump said of Marshall. “You’re not allowed not to do it. You have to, by law, go after those people. And they made it like, ‘Oh, he was some kind of a Shylock-type guy.’”

But while the ADL felt compelled to comment about the slur on social media, it wouldn’t name the guy who said it.

“The term ‘Shylock’ is rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype. Regardless of intent, its use can reinforce harmful tropes about Jews and normalize language that has long been used to target the Jewish community,” the organization wrote on social media.

The term “Shylock” is rooted in a longstanding antisemitic stereotype. Regardless of intent, its use can reinforce harmful tropes about Jews and normalize language that has long been used to target the Jewish community.

Many people found it strange that the ADL left out Trump’s name while denouncing the slur, especially since it’s not the first time he’s used it.

In July, 2025, during a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, Trump extolled the purported benefits of his so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” by saying: “No death tax. No estate tax. No going through the banks and borrowing from, in some cases, a fine banker, and in some cases, Shylocks and bad people.”

As journalist Sam Stein noted on X, the ADL had no problem calling out Trump’s use of the slur as “very troubling and irresponsible” last year.

ADL's statement on Trump using the word "shylock" in 2026 v. ADL's statement on Trump using the word "shylock" in 2025. A key difference pic.twitter.com/QNHqvOsyEU

The ADL did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.

The organization also limited commenting on the post, but that didn’t stop people from calling the group out for cowardice.

Hey @ADL, why didn’t you mention WHO said the ugly, antisemitic slur “Shylock?” Why didn’t you? https://t.co/Sd2QAiZ3iF

This is some weak crap. It was Donald Trump who used this term. Nowhere in this tweet does the ADL mention his name. I guarantee if someone else (say a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan) had used that term, the ADL would not have used kid gloves while calling it out. https://t.co/ofYIBxo8gf

noteworthy that the ADL did not summon the courage to name *who* used the slur “Shylock” https://t.co/aUOYAwfSTe

Gee I wonder who USED the term "Shylock"? Too bad he couldn't have been identified. Or is he a profoundly antisemitic man the @ADL has sane washed for years? https://t.co/mJ8QhyfgbI

“Shylock” didn’t say itself. Someone said it but who? We may never know. Oh wait. https://t.co/BrlzZ2egZF

“Shylock” is a very old antisemitic term. It was introduced, as far as we can tell, by Shakespeare in the late 1500s. We know Trump can’t read a magazine, let alone Shakespeare, which means he likely grew up hearing the word around him. Deeply ingrained Jew hatred.

The ADL posts this but fails to mention that Donald Trump was the person who used the word "Shylock" https://t.co/xW8c1uAV8E

Pulitzer to the first reporter that sticks a microphone in @JGreenblattADL face and asks him who used that horrible anti-semetic "Shylock" slur at a rally and gets it on video. pic.twitter.com/E5iqWGx7aF

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