there is nothing new under the sun

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.

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