Hilchos Lashon Hara, Opening – Negative commands (6)

Both the speaker and the listener also break the negative commandment (Vayikra 22:32), "Do not desecrate My holy name."

The reason: there is no physical desire or pleasure here that the yetzer hara used to beat him. So this sin is simply rebellion - throwing off the yoke of Heaven - and through it he desecrates Hashem's name.

This is true for any Jew. It is even more so for an important person whose actions everyone watches - he surely desecrates Hashem's name when he does this. And if the sin was done in public, it is certainly very great, because he is called someone who desecrated Hashem's name in public.