In a recent television interview, presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg said that he can't imagine God belongs to the Republican Party.

Appearing on NBC's Today Show on Tuesday, Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said that his husband Chasten would make a great first spouse for America.

“He's just an example of somebody who will make a great dad one day, he's a great husband, and he'll make a great first spouse for this country, too,” Buttigieg said. “Cares about other people. He's a teacher. Cares about education. Cares about kids. And he's somebody who is really alive to the ways that being in public office can allow you to help other people.”

On the campaign trail, Buttigieg, an Episcopalian, often talks about his faith.

“It's important to me,” Buttigieg said about his religion. “And I think it's also important that we stop seeing religion used as a kind of cudgel as if God belonged to a political party. And if he did, I can't imagine it would be the one that sent the current president into the White House.”

While a poll released Monday keeps Buttigieg in third place among Democratic presidential candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden widened his lead over Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to 32 points.