(CNN) California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter said that as an artillery officer, his unit "killed probably hundreds of civilians" during his 2004 tour in Fallujah, Iraq.

During a Barstool Sports interview for a podcast that was released on Monday, Hunter defended his support of Eddie Gallagher , a Navy SEAL facing a premeditated murder charge in the stabbing death of an injured person in Iraq. President Donald Trump is considering pardoning Gallagher.

"I was an artillery officer, and we fired hundreds of rounds into Fallujah, killed probably hundreds of civilians, if not scores, if not hundreds of civilians," Hunter said. "Probably killed women and children, if there were any left in the city when we invaded. So do I get judged, too?"

When pressed on a specific killing differing from collateral damage, Hunter argued that it was simply a matter of how people were killed.

Gallagher's alleged victim "might have been killed in a way that you don't personally agree with, because you say it's against the laws of war," Hunter said. "As opposed to artillery killing civilians, women and children, because it's kind of indiscriminate in a way. It's not a sniper weapon, right. Which is worse?"

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