Conservative writer David French joining New York Times

Conservative writer and author David French is joining The New York Times as a columnist, the newspaper announced on Tuesday.

French, who has emerged as a leading critic among conservatives of former President Trump in recent years, helped launch the anti-Trump conservative website “The Dispatch” before spending several years as a writer at The National Review.

The Times, in a note announcing French’s hire, described him as “forthright in his views, yet open to counterargument; sincere in his ideological commitments, yet willing to call out those who normally share his beliefs when he believes they’ve wandered astray.”

French begins at the Times later this month.

“Writing about politics and current affairs in the era of Donald Trump ideally requires a variety of traits that do not always, or even often, go together: factual and intellectual clarity, moral seriousness, and a spirit of generosity toward others and humility toward oneself,” the Times said.