Who Is David French? Possible Independent Presidential Candidate Emerges Through Bill Kristol

With Donald Trump as the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, not many Americans are thrilled with having either him or Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton take over the White House from President Barack Obama. That’s where David French might come in. After Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekend Standard, suggested French should run, his name quickly became a top-trending Twitter topic Tuesday. But who is he?

1.For starters, he is many things. French is a constitutional law attorney, a staff writer at National Review and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his biography at National Review reads.

2. French is a best-selling author, too. He contributed to the book “Rise of ISIS: A Threat We Can’t Ignore,” which reached No. 1 slot on the New York Times best-seller list.

3. French studied at Harvard Law School and formerly lectured at Cornell Law School.

4. He is a family man. He and his wife, Nancy, have three children. They live in Columbia, Tennessee.

5. He is a major in the United States Army Reserve. French was deployed to Iraq in 2007. He served in Diyala province as squadron judge advocate for the 2nd Squadron and 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He was awarded the Bronze Star.

Donald Trump doesn’t seem to like the idea of a third-party candidate. Though he didn’t slam French, he bashed Kristol for proposing the idea. “Bill Kristol has been wrong for 2yrs-an embarrassed loser, but if the GOP can't control their own, then they are not a party. Be tough, R's!” he wrote Sunday. “If dummy Bill Kristol actually does get a spoiler to run as an Independent, say good bye to the Supreme Court!”

After he proposed French should run for president, Kristol flew to Israel to avoid the media, according to Bloomberg News, but he did manage to send out a tweet. “I gather Donald Trump said I'm a loser,” he wrote Tuesday. “I've won some and I've lost some, but one thing I've always tried not to be is a roaring jackass.”

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