Donald Trump said his widely criticized plan toblock Muslims from entering the United States has support even from his Muslim friends.
"I'm doing good for the Muslims," Trump told CNN's Don Lemon on Wednesday night.
The GOP presidential frontrunner's strategy to halt all Muslim immigration has been blasted around the world -- and has even come under fire from party elders such as former Vice President Dick Cheney.
However, Trump claimed to have support even from Muslims.
"Many Muslim friends of mine are in agreement with me. They say, 'Donald, you brought something up to the fore that is so brilliant and so fantastic,'" he said.
Trump bragged that "one of the most important people in the Middle East" told him he was doing a "great service."
He did not name that person.
Trump also insisted he was not a racist nor a bigot, and said it didn't bother him if others described him that way.
"If that were true it would bother me tremendously," he said. "But it's so false, and honestly I don't hear it often."
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