RIO DE JANEIRO -- It isn't easy to "win the press conference" at the Olympics. There are so many of them, after all, and the stiff setting that has athletes perched on a high dais in a massive room filled with reporters leaves little room for intimate or funny moments.

Still: Maplewood native and Muslim fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad had the crowd of international journalists laughing when she answered a question about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday morning.

The exchange begins with a question Muhammad has been asked before about Trump, who has proposed a ban on all Muslim immigrants to the U.S., and continues like an Abbott and Costello routine from there.

MUHAMMAD: Who?

REPORTER: Donald Trump.

MUHAMMAD: Sorry, what did you say?

REPORTER: (now shouting) Trump! Donald Trump!

MUHAMMAD: Who?

Then, after some laughter ...

MUHAMMAD: Nah, I'm kidding.

She did not, it should be noted, answer the question. But she did again use her platform to draw attention to the plight of Muslim Americans, including the harassment she herself has had to deal with on the streets of Manhattan and on social media.

"That's the gift and the curse of social media: You hear from young women all the time, but you also hear from the haters," Muhammad said. "But I want people to know that as hard as they've been on me, they don't even come close to what we saw in the shooting in North Carolina or the rhetoric around the Khan family at the (Democratic National Convention).

"It's ridiculous. We, as a country, have to change, and I feel like this is a moment."

Muhammad continues to make the most of her moment. When asked how she can make the biggest impact here in Rio over the coming days, the fencer's answer was perfect.

"It's really simple: All I have to do is stand on the strip, wear my hijab and that's a part of who I am," she said, and then added with a smile. "But obviously, I hope a medal comes along with that."

Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.