Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump turned the tables on MSNBC host Chris Matthews during a town hall Wednesday, questioning the interviewer, who is Catholic, about his beliefs on abortion.

The GOP front-runner spent much of Wednesday defending comments he made earlier in the day about punishing women for having illegal abortions before attacking Matthews on a personal level.

"How do you feel about the Catholic Church's position?" Trump asked Matthews.

A surprised Matthews said he accepted the authority of the church on moral issues. He emphasized the legal separation between church and state before telling Trump not to talk about religion.

As the two dove back in to Trump's ideas for how to punish doctors who carry out illegal abortions, the New York businessman unexpectedly turned the conversation back to Matthew's Catholic beliefs. He asked Matthews if by being pro-choice he was "against the teachings" of his church.

"I have a view, a moral view, but I believe we live in a free country and I dont wanna live in a country so fascistic that it can stop a person from making that decision. That would be so invasive," Matthews said.

Trump shot back, "I heard you speaking so highly about your religion and about your church. Your church is very, very strong as you know, pro-life. What do you say as your church..."

"I say 'I accept your moral authority,'" Matthews interjected.

"But you don't live by it 'cause you don't accept it, you can't accept," Trump fired back, before Matthews refocused the conversation and sent viewers to a commercial break.