When Donald Trump told Muslims they should report what they see, he inspired a worldwide trending hashtag: #MuslimsReportStuff.
During Sunday night’s presidential debate, a Muslim woman had asked Trump and Hillary Clinton how they planned to deal with Islamophobia.
While Trump didn’t directly answer the question, his response essentially boiled down to: See something, say something, Muslims.
“We have to be sure that Muslims come in and report when they see something going on. When they see hatred going on, they have to report it,” he said.
Muslims took to Twitter to report what they saw.
Muslims report Trump
Moustafa Bayoumi kicked things off with his tweet: “I’m a Muslim, and I would like to report a crazy man threatening a woman on a stage in Missouri.”
Some pointed to what they saw on the town hall stage Sunday night.
“I need to report I saw an orange haired man on my TV scaring children,” quipped Dean Obeidallah, a CNN contributor.
Muslims report Islamophobia
Trump backed away from his previous call to ban all Muslim immigration into the US, and said he now backed “extreme vetting.” He also likened accepting refugees from Syria into the US as “the great Trojan horse of all time.”
Others used the hashtag to critique that all Muslims were painted unfairly as jihadists and terrorists, while many attacks and massacres came from white Americans.
“Imagine if he talked like this any other religious minority,” another person tweeted.
Muslims report politics
It wasn’t just about Trump’s comments though. Others lamented that the debate was hard to watch altogether.
“I’d like to report a room of “undecideds” who may need therapy after participating in a town hall #debate tonight. #MuslimsReportStuff,” wrote user Hind Makki
One social media user tweeted that Clinton had also conveyed similar meaning that Muslims should report suspicious activities — just in different words.
Clinton had said, “We need American Muslims to be part of our eyes and ears on our front lines.”
Muslims report jokes
Others took a more satirical turn.
Kumail Nanjiani, star of HBO’s “Silicon Valley,” chose to report his assessment of the cinematic merits of “Gremlins 2.”
“#MuslimsReportStuff Gremlins 2 is the rare sequel that completely deconstructs the franchise. For my money, it’s better than the first.”
Others chimed in, reporting things like what they were eating, what items went on sale and what annoying habits a sibling had.
“Muslim here. I am eating ice cream now. Safe to proceed?” tweeted A. David Lewis, editor of the “Muslim Superheroes.”
Reza Aslan, religion scholar and producer on CNN’s documentary series “Believer,” cracked “You don’t want to know what we actually put in hummus.”