WATCH: Don Lemon Asks Donald Trump If He's Homophobic 

In a taped CNN interview with out anchor Don Lemon Wednesday night, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, said he didn't think he was homophobic because he is, in his words, a "very nice person."

While that statement flies in the face of controversial remarks Trump has made in his campaign for the presidential nomination, including comments demeaning to immigrants and to women, the real estate tycoon summed up his feelings in three words.

"I love people," said Trump, which was in response to Lemon's question whether he was homophobic.

In typical Trump fashion, he continued:

"I have to tell you, when you look at those polls and look at the poll that just came out but ... it's across the board. You know who loves me? The Tea Party? The evangelicals, you know, I'm leading with evangelicals. I love them; they love me. I'm Presbyterian, I'm Protestant, and they like me and you know why? Because they think I'm going to do a great job for the country. But if you look, because you're making it sound like the far right ... the far right does like me. But you know who else likes me? Democrats like me. Liberals like me. ... It's straight across the board."

So according to Trump, everyone loves him, which works out great because he loves everyone, and also, most important, he loves himself.

The first time Trump considered running for president 15 years ago, he was interviewed by The Advocate, and he talked freely about his support for gay rights and defended Mexicans.

A new poll of 1,000 likely voters byUSA Today and Suffollk University asked them to describe Trump in one word, and "nice" was not the adjective most chose.

Instead, the responses to the poll's open ended question "What one word describes Donald Trump?" were the words "idiot," "dumb," "stupid," and "jerk," all tied for first place.

"Arrogant" came in second. Other words that came to mind were "crazy" and "nuts," finishing in third place, and "clown," "buffoon," "comical" and "joke," tied for fourth.

Despite those unflattering words, Trump remains the most popular of any Republican presidential contender, according to the poll released Wednesday. He has a 10-percentage-point lead over Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.

Watch the clip from CNN Tonight in which Don Lemon interviews Donald Trump, below.