Pawlenty thanks God for his "red-hot, smokin' wife"

​If you've got a mullet-loving, oddball governor like Tim Pawlenty traveling the country and representing the fine state of Minnesota, you might as well let him roll with it and thank God for his "red-hot smoking wife." Yes, he said it, and yes, it's on video.

We'd like to pretend this was a straight-up Pawlenty quote, but unfortunately he ripped it from Talladega Nights: "Thank you, Lord, for my red-hot, smokin' wife." Pawlenty made the reference about his own wife, Mary Pawlenty, while speaking to the Iowa GOP.

Check out the video below.

More from Iowa Politics:

The Minnesota governor also sprinkled his speech with some humor, quoting from the movie "Talladega Nights" with Will Farrell when he called his wife, Mary Pawlenty, a "red-hot smoking wife." A reporter later asked him what his wife thought about that comment.

"I think she appreciates that line. I talked to her about it and she's OK with it," Pawlenty said, adding that the comment was meant in humor. "She knows it's in fun. I mean it sincerely, I think she is hot."

The hot wife part comes at about the 3-minute mark:

Now if only he could get her to sleep with him. Last year, Pawlenty made a joke about his lack of a sex life.

"I have a wife who genuinely loves to fish. I mean, she will take the lead and ask me to go out fishing, and joyfully comes here," the governor said before adding, "She loves football, she'll go to hockey games and, I jokingly say, 'Now, if I could only get her to have sex with me.'"