7/18/18
Republican Rep. Jason Lewis made bigoted remarks about women on a radio show before his time in office, once wondering why it was not acceptable to call them “sluts,” according to newly unearthed audio released on Wednesday. The recordings, published by CNN, come as Lewis faces reelection in a Minnesota congressional district near Minneapolis that many believe to be in play for Democrats in the midterms. “Well, the thing is, can we call anybody a slut? This is what begs the question,” Lewis said. “But it used to be that women were held to a little bit of a higher standard. We required modesty from women. Now, are we beyond those days where a woman can behave as a slut, but you can’t call her a slut?” “What did we call those people 30 years ago, 40 years ago, 50 years ago?” he said. “You can’t do that today, it’s too politically incorrect.”
Lewis’s remarks have long drawn scrutiny. In the run-up to the 2016 election, the Atlantic called him “Minnesota’s mini-Trump,” and noted his history of incendiary remarks on race and gender. On another show that aired in the months before the 2012 election, according to CNN, Lewis speculated that President Barack Obama was favored by women because some women were “guided by emotion, not reason.” “To the degree that the Republicans or conservatives or Mitt Romney has an issue with the women, maybe it isn’t Mitt Romney or his positions. Maybe it’s the women,” Lewis said. “We all know that women tend to vote more liberal than men. It is the women who are guided by more emotion than reason. On Thursday, Emily’s List, the political group working to elect Democratic women candidates, quickly seized on Lewis’s remarks. “Time and again, Jason Lewis has shown us just how little he respects or understands women,” spokeswoman Christina Reynolds said in a statement. “In November, women — and all of our allies — have an opportunity to return the favor by sending him home and replacing him with Angie Craig.”
