Robert Morris, the founding pastor of a prominent Texas megachurch, has spent years telling congregants that about a “moral failure” from his past. The evangelical Christian didn’t go into detail, but he conceded that it involved a sexual sin that he committed as a young minister.

This week, as NBC News reported, the story took a dramatic turn when Morris confessed to engaging in “sexual behavior” with a child.

After the revelations reached the public, Morris, not surprisingly, resigned as the church’s senior pastor.

It’s important to emphasize at the outset that what matters most in a story like this is the victim and the support she’s entitled to. That said, there’s also a larger context to consider.

This week, for example, my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones described Morris “as a true MAGA movement acolyte” who has “used his platform to support the right-wing assault on school learning plans that acknowledge the existence of LGBTQ people and classroom discussions about social inequality.” The NBC News podcast “Grapevine” also detailed how his church has been aligned with right-wing portrayals of LGBTQ+ people as being dangerous to society.

The hypocrisy — or more to the point, the latest example of such hypocrisy — is overwhelming.

But let’s also not forget that Morris’ reach wasn’t strictly theological. It was also political.

The Texas megachurch pastor also served as a spiritual adviser to Donald Trump, joining the Republican’s spiritual advisory board during the 2016 campaign, and being welcomed at the White House during Trump’s tenure. In June 2020, Trump visited Gateway Church in Texas and touted Morris as a “great” person.

In a statement to NBC News on Monday, a campaign spokesperson for the former president said Trump was unaware of Morris’ abuse, adding that the pastor “does not have a role with the 2024 campaign.”

I have no reason to believe otherwise, though I can’t help but wonder what the Republican reaction might be if we were talking about a sexual abuse scandal involving a spiritual adviser to President Joe Biden.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com