Conservative lawyer shreds MAGA for having no moral rock bottom

President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he departs the White House in Washington, DC, October 19, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Arguing that he had "never seen a viler" attack ad in political history than the one that blew up this week, a prominent conservative New York Times columnist thrashed President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement for continuing to prove they have no rock bottom to hit when it comes to ethics and morality.

David French is a columnist for the Times who previously worked as a staff writer for the conservative National Review, as well as a former attorney. He has been critical of Trump since his entry into politics during the 2016 presidential race, and continues to express revulsion at the moral depravity that his MAGA movement is capable of, as he explained in his latest column on Sunday, ripping into Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy widely denounced attack ad against his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton.

As French wrote, the ad, which featured Acton's estranged mother calling her a liar, exploited the "evil" family history that Acton managed to escape, with Ramaswamy making the betrayal of a parent towards their child all the worse by using it to score political points.

All the while, French argued, the sordid incident showed the moral rot at the center of the MAGA movement.

"Long ago we learned that there is no bottom for MAGA, and there is still no bottom to this scandal. If Ramaswamy had a molecule of decency, he would take the ad down and apologize. Instead, he attacked Acton," French wrote.

He later noted how Trump praised the ad, commending Acton's mother for her "courage," while Vice President JD Vance called it "adacious."

"This perversion of the concept of courage is central to the MAGA ethos," French argued. "In MAGA’s account of history, the Republican Party before Trump was a collection of cowards and quislings — people who knew the right thing to do but refused to do so because they were desperate for the approval of progressives."

He added: "That’s the origin of the famous (in conservative circles) 'D.C. cocktail party' smear — the idea that conservative convictions crumble the instant that conservatives get access to elite institutions or the moment that they get the first taste of elite approval. I’ve faced this accusation for more than a decade, ever since I said I could never support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee. In other words, there are no genuine arguments about policy or morality, there are only two kinds of people: the strong and the weak..."

French explained further that, to many MAGA Republicans, merely being attacked and despised by the political left is a sign of righteousness, an idea that also has roots in the persecution complex ingrained in evangelical teachings.

"Given enough time, every institution takes on the character of its leader," he concluded. "Trump is a cruel man, he leads a cruel movement and only the total defeat of both can free the nation from their malign control."

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