Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is drawing attention after a report that he told a gathering of pastors last month that sex trafficking is linked to the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

The Kansas City Star reported Wednesday that it obtained audio from a speech Hawley gave at a "Pastors and Pews" event in Kansas City. Hawley told pastors that the sexual revolution led to a culture that he says "has completely lost its way."

Hawley is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill in November.

Kelli Ford, Hawley's campaign spokeswoman, in an email to The Associated Press blamed "Hollywood and the media" for a cultural shift in the 1960s and 1970s that made it OK "to treat women as objects for male gratification."