The 2016 presidential race features an array of characters, each with their own quirks, flaws and idiosyncrasies. So when Republican front-runner Donald Trump began making inflammatory comments about various ethnic or religious groups, Hazem Mansour didn’t pay him much mind — even when Trump switched his focus from Mexican immigrants to Muslims.

In November, Trump pledged that he would combat terrorism by ordering surveillance of “certain mosques” he believes are more likely to incite terrorism and harbor anti-American views. He also called for a database of all Syrian refugees admitted into the country so that the federal government could ensure they were not being radicalized. But still Mansour, an openly gay first-generation American and the son of Muslim immigrants from Egypt, viewed Trump’s candidacy as a sideshow, a performance to keep the attention of the media and the public on his campaign.

“I think when the first controversial statement by Mr. Trump was made, I, like many other Muslims that I know, both LGBTQ and straight, kind of rolled our eyes, didn’t take it very seriously, very tongue-in-cheek,” says Mansour, who was born in upstate New York and raised in the Baltimore area.

But as time went on, and Trump’s rhetoric around Islam and Muslims, in particular, became more heated, Mansour would read posts on his Facebook feed and become increasingly alarmed. After the comments about mosque surveillance, Trump then said he wanted a watch list for people coming into the country — and made contradictory and confusing statements that appeared to endorse the idea of a database of all Muslims. In response to a question from ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Trump said he was not ruling out a database of all Muslims, but was primarily more concerned with tracking Syrian refugees.

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Following the deadly shooting by a handful of ISIS sympathizers in San Bernardino, Calif., earlier this month, the Republican front-runner’s campaign issued a press release calling for a ban on Muslims looking to immigrate to the United States and Muslims looking to visit the United States as tourists, at least until “our country’s representatives can figure out what’s going on.” Upon further questioning in the weeks that followed, Trump insisted that a ban is the only way to send a message about the country’s willingness to stand up against radical Islam. It was then that Mansour began to take Trump seriously.

“What went from being something of a joke suddenly became a reality check, that this kind of ideology and hatred is within the American fabric,” Mansour says. “And it’s not just Trump. He does have a host of supporters behind him. So he’s catering to an audience, and he’s doing it based on a fear that was already instilled in some of the American public.”

Urooj Arshad, a member of the steering committee of the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, says that Trump is building upon a base of fear and distrust of Muslims that was initially stoked after the 9/11 attacks more than a decade ago. She, too, initially dismissed Trump as catering to fringe elements within the Republican base, but grew concerned as his front-runner status appeared to become cemented and his comments grew more outlandish.

“To me, it’s really scary,” says Arshad, who worries about further marginalization of the American Muslim community. “I know right now, there’s an uptick in Islamophobia, and it’s an election year, so of course it’s going to be a big issue. It just adds to that level of ‘What’s going to happen? What happens if he wins?’ And even if he doesn’t win, he’s being taken seriously by a lot of people in this country…. And the fact that he has celebrity status in this country, and a lot of Americans are not paying attention to politics, but rather cultural icons, [means] he has a lot of power.”

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While Trump’s proposed ban has received pushback from other Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, Arshad notes that other presidential candidates have made comments she calls “problematic.” For instance, one-time front-runner Ben Carson said he doesn’t believe a Muslim can be the president of the United States without rejecting the tenets of Islam. But Arshad adds that even if Republicans distance themselves from Trump, they’re not helping to counter the hatred that she feels Trump is stoking among a certain segment of the electorate.

Almas Haider, of Washington, says that the horrified reaction of the community is not so much about Trump’s comments, which echo sentiments that have been expressed in past years.

“This is something that has been going on since 9/11. And the calls for an ID card is something that also has been going on the last decade,” Haider says. “So it’s not something new. It wasn’t a reaction to Donald Trump saying these kind of comments, but it’s the audience that’s cheering and the support he is gaining from making these comments that makes us uncomfortable and fearful for our safety.”

Haider worries about the long-term effects of the anti-Muslim sentiment that Trump is stirring up, citing the mysterious death of a teenage Somali Muslim in Seattle — who some fellow Muslims believe may have been pushed to his death in a suspected hate crime. There was also an attack against a Muslim sixth grade girl in New York, who was beaten up and called ISIS while her classmates tried to rip off her hijab. Both are examples of the dangers that could outlast a Trump campaign, or even a Trump presidency.

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“These are not new comments he’s making. These are more reflections of what a lot of Americans actually believe or support,” says Haider. “That’s why he has a large support base. That’s why it’s so concerning. Regardless of whether or not Donald Trump becomes president, it’s the fact that people who believe in what he is saying, all this hate speech, are coming out of the woodwork, and will be there after Donald Trump leaves, and most likely in a visible way.”

Mansour adds that much of Trump’s rhetoric appears to be done for shock value, adding that the media often assists by giving him press whenever he says something that’s deemed “controversial.”

“I think initially it comes across as comical,” he says. “But as we go down the road of this current situation, it really plays on the fears of people who might not know much about the religion, about what it means, what it stands for, and why those people, the terrorists, are doing what they’re doing. Pre-World War II, you had Hitler playing up to the fears of the German people. They became highly xenophobic. They needed their scapegoats.”

When asked what his feelings about Trump are when it comes to the business magnate’s position on LGBT issues, Mansour says he wasn’t really familiar with them until he heard Trump say that being LGBT is not a reason for someone to be fired or denied employment. But while that position is “refreshing,” it’s not going to be enough to endear him to Trump.

“You can’t call for the oppression of one minority, and then endorse another,” Mansour says. “I think that once we get to that point, where you’re calling for the oppression of one, all minority groups, and collectively, the entire country, should be up in arms about these kind of statements.”