Trump-advising pastor says backing the president is okay because Reagan was a 'known womanizer,' too
Quiz: If you're doing something hypocritical, does it make things any better to note you've been a hypocrite for a long time? I would say no, but Pastor Robert Jeffress, an adviser to President Trump and one of his most rhetorically gymnastic supporters, says yes.
"Nobody has sold his soul to support President Trump," Jeffress said in a new Fox News interview when presented with the contrast between Trump's behavior and the evangelical ethics Jeffress touts. "Back in 1980, evangelicals chose to support a twice-married Hollywood actor who was a known womanizer in Hollywood," he said. "His name was Ronald Reagan. They chose to support him over Jimmy Carter, a born-again Baptist Sunday school teacher who had been married faithfully to one woman."
"The reason we supported President Reagan was not because we supported womanizing or divorce," he continued. "We supported his policies, and that's true" with Trump, too.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Read more on whether character matters to conservatives in the age of Trump here at The Week, and see Jeffress' comments in context below. Bonnie Kristian
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 – 30 JanuaryQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why is China clearing out its generals?Podcast Plus, can the Conservatives win back the centre? And what’s gone wrong with Britain’s hearing aids?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A Viking festival, an inky fingerprint, and more
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
-
Democrats pledge Noem impeachment if not firedSpeed Read Trump is publicly defending the Homeland Security secretary
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
