David French — the conservative writer being touted as a possible third-party presidential candidate — has a background which could suggest some potential as a candidate.
French was awarded a Bronze Star after leaving his law career to serve in the U.S. Army's JAG Corps in Iraq. He is a lawyer educated at Harvard, and he was a constitutional law professor at Cornell. French, with wife Nancy, organized evangelical outreach for Mitt Romney during Romney's presidential campaigns. He is a writer for the conservative magazine National Review, according to
The Hill.
"He's the last person who would raise the starter flag like this just to draw attention to himself," GOP donor Kurt Keilhacker said, reports The Hill. "I think he sees a situation where someone has to stand up and say we can do better than Trump or Hillary."
Keilhacker is among GOP donors who have pledged support if French decides to run. "The moment they do, I'll work as hard as I can on their behalf," he added.
Weekly Standard editor Bill Krisol suggested French as a possible candidate, saying, "To say that he would be a better and a more responsible president than Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump is to state a truth that would become self-evident as more Americans got to know him."
French has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump in his National Review writing. In one article, he called Trump's supporters "an enthusiastic flock of online racists."
Kristol apparently set high expectations when he announced that he was looking for a strong third-party candidate to run in the presidential election. The possibility of his run drew strong commentary for and against.
Michael Medved tweeted that he believes French has more qualifications for president than Donald Trump:
The Washington Post detailed some of the backlash, including criticism of French by Trump's campaign manager, who asked, "Have you EVER heard of him?"
French sent a tweet:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.