Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday that the Armed Forces Network should drop conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

“I would hope the people that run it see just how offensive this is and drop it on their own volition,” Levin told CNN.

VoteVets.org, the largest progressive group for American military veterans, is calling on the American Forces Network to stop broadcasting Limbaugh’s show in the wake of his attack on Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke.

“Rush Limbaugh has a freedom of speech and can say what he wants, but in light of his horribly misogynistic comments, American Forces Radio should no longer give him a platform,” they said.

“Our entire military depends on troops respecting each other – women and men. There simply can be no place on military airwaves for sentiments that would undermine that respect. When many of our female troops use birth control, for Limbaugh to say they are ‘sluts’ and ‘prostitutes’ is beyond the pale.”

But a Pentagon spokesman said Monday that the military’s network would continue to air Limbaugh’s program five mornings a week.

Levin thinks Limbaugh should not be broadcast by the military. However, he doesn’t think the decision to drop Limbaugh is something Congress should be involved with.

“I think that is probably an issue that should be left to the folks that run that network,” he said. “In other words, I’d love to see them drop it but I don’t think I’d legislate it.”

With prior reporting by Andrew Jones

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