Trump defends senator who sued 700 patients with an antisemitic slur

Usually a politician’s worst story gets buried. Donald Trump dug this one up on stage and threw a slur in with it.

Back story: last month the New York Times reported that Sen. Roger Marshall’s obstetrics practice, before he went into politics, sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills. In 81 of those cases patients were arrested after missing court dates. The Kansas City Star later found the practice charged 18% interest, possibly above the state’s 15% cap. Not great for a guy in a surprisingly tight race in Kansas.

So on Monday in Park City, Trump came to the rescue. Marshall was “mandated by law” to chase that money, Trump claimed. “And they made it like he was some kind of a Shylock type guy. I don’t know if I should be saying it.”

He shouldn’t have. He knows that, because Jewish groups called him out for using the same word at a rally in July 2025. Back then he said he’d “never heard it that way.” Fifteen months is apparently not enough time to hear it that way.

New York Magazine adds the cherry: Trump said someone on his team had told him not to bring up the lawsuit story at all. He did it anyway, “because I believe it’s appropriate.” The ADL condemned the term without naming him. Kansas Jewish leaders were less shy.