President Donald Trump pushed back Wednesday against the idea his rhetoric could be emboldening white nationalists, telling the PBS NewsHour’s Yamiche Alcindor: “That’s such a racist question.”

Alcindor asked Trump about his rhetoric ahead of the midterm elections along with his claim that he was a “nationalist,” and whether those were contributing to a perception that the Republican Party supported white nationalists.

“What you just said is so insulting to me,” he added.

“Why do I have my highest poll numbers ever with African-Americans?” Trump said. The president may have been referring to an Oct. 29 Rasmussen Reports poll he tweeted last week, which showed 40 percent of African-Americans approved of his performance. Politico points to another poll taken 12 days earlier by Fox, which showed 29 percent of non-white registered voters approved of Trump’s performance in office.

New Fox Poll shows a “40% Approval Rating by African Americans for President Trump, a record for Republicans.” Thank you, a great honor! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 4, 2018

“I love our country, I do. You have nationalists, you have globalists, I also love the world and I don’t mind helping the world but we have to straighten out our country first.”