Most Americans might assume that religion and morality had some connection. That’s clearly not always true—religion has driven horrible actions in the past—but many great moral leaders have also been great religious leaders. The world’s great religions are certainly based on the theory that being observant requires following a moral code. In many cases, the whole idea of a “hero” is simply someone who held to that moral code even in the face of great adversity.

However, for America’s white evangelical Christians, it turns out that there is something more important than morals. In a 2011 study, the Public Religion Research Institute asked Americans if elected officials could fulfill their public duties if they committed immoral acts in their private lives.

White evangelical Protestants were the least forgiving. Sixty-one percent said such a politician could not “behave ethically,” twice the 30 percent who felt that such a politician could manage it.

Among all groups, evangelicals were the least tolerant on this point. But in the era of Trump, evangelicals have undergone a sea change.

Five years later, in October, 2016, P.R.R.I. asked the same question. The percentage of white evangelical Protestants who said that a politician who commits an immoral act in their personal life could still behave ethically shot up from 30 to 72 percent. The percentage saying such a politician could not serve ethically plunged from 63 to 20 percent.

That question was asked at the same time that the information on Trump’s Access Hollywood tapes had reached the public. Evangelicals quite literally determined that sexual assault, repeated adultery, bald-faced lying, and stiffing people on business deals were all acceptable behavior in their leaders.