(CNN) Republican Rep. Jason Lewis defended Thursday comments he made in 2012 lamenting that women could no longer be called "sluts."

CNN's KFile reported on Wednesday that Lewis repeatedly demeaned women during a period of 15 months on his radio show, "The Jason Lewis Show." The show's audio was obtained by CNN's KFile from Michael Brodkorb, a columnist and former deputy chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota.

Lewis, who was narrowly elected to represent Minnesota's 2nd District in 2016, is considered one of the most endangered House Republicans in the midterm election. CNN rates the race as a "toss up," the most competitive designation.

Speaking on Thursday afternoon in an interview with local Minnesota station WCCO's "The Chad Hartman Show," Lewis defended his past statements.

"Look, a rhetorical discussion about the cultural changes and whether we can hold anyone, male or female, to standards made for an interesting hour, made for an interesting rhetorical discussion," Lewis said. "That's what you're supposed to do on talk radio. And if you're provocative when you do it, well, that's part of our job. I presume, you know, the people that are running with this story are looking for ratings as well. So, it's kind of sad that it's come back to this, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

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