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In late July 2018, Facebook users circulated a meme bearing the image of U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis (R-Minnesota) with text stating that he had called for a dress code for American women: The meme referenced comments Lewis made in 2012, five years before he assumed office, when his primary occupation was hosting the syndicated talk radio program The Jason Lewis Show. Those comments resurfaced on 18 July 2018, when CNN published excerpts from Lewis' former radio program (which ended in 2014) in the lead-up to Lewis's bid for reelection in the 2018 November midterms. In recordings from March 2012 released by CNN, Lewis repeatedly expressed disbelief that people could no longer refer to women as 'sluts', even if those women were sexually active or dressed provocatively: Lewis was referring to a then-current controversy over comments made by fellow conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who had termed Sandra Fluke, then a law student at Georgetown University, a slut and a prostitute for speaking before a House committee in support of mandatory insurance coverage for contraceptives. Although Lewis may have been, in a very broad sense, suggesting a dress code for women by criticizing figures such as Madonna for running around [in] slutty outfits and making statements such as Only we can tell our young women, 'don't look like some slut and you won't get hit on,' we found no instance of his advocating the imposition of a mandatory (i.e., legislatively established) mode of dress for women. We reached out to Lewis's spokespeople and received no response, but Lewis campaign spokeswoman Becky Alery told CNN that Lewis's comments as a radio host were old news: This has all been litigated before, and as Congressman Lewis has said time and time again, it was his job to be provocative while on the radio.
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