In The New York Times Monday morning, David French returns to his familiar theme: betrayal. An evangelical Presbyterian and an erstwhile staunch conservative, French made waves several years ago for his strong opposition to Donald Trump. When others on the right attacked him (and, inexcusably, his family), French was understandably rocked to the core. He began an ideological peregrination that landed him at the Times. He reliably cranks out columns explaining how the Christian right came to be infected with a Trumpian fever — and how he, along with a small faithful remnant, avoided the contagion.
French explains, often, why pro-life conservatives should prefer Joe Biden to Donald Trump. The average New York Times subscriber is not an anti-abortion evangelical, and indeed, probably has gone out of his or her way to avoid those sorts of benighted and backward people. David French, who has good reason to be angry at how he and his family were treated, settles scores on a weekly basis. His audience laps it up, hoping that French is a harbinger. Perhaps other “decent” evangelicals will grow so appalled at Trumpian vulgarity that they too will become reliable Democratic voters. One can only hope, Mildred!
I am very interested in how people speak of the movements and institutions they have left behind. Many years ago, The Telegraph called me “America’s most infamous ‘male feminist’.” I don’t know if the superlative was deserved, but I can’t think of an American man whose infamy in that particular arena outclassed my own. I cultivated a
