David A. French

I've been really eager to talk with this week's guest for many reasons, but especially because she recently plunged with nuance and curiosity into a political discussion that simply doesn't happen enough.

As the publisher of The Bulwark, a pro-democracy news and information organization, Sarah Longwell said, invited New York Times columnist David French to her Focus Group podcast to talk about character in politics.

Do voters expect their political leaders to possess certain virtues? Do voters now prize so-called authenticity over moral goodness? What does it mean when voters say most elected officials run for office because they want to make a lot of money, not contribute to the common good? That's what they said in a recent poll.

The discussion was deeply revealing what Longwell and French had to say, but also what the voters said in Sarah's focus groups.

And she's the author of a new book titled How to Eat an Elephant, One Voter at a Time.

I wanted to zero in on a question, on a series of questions that she has put to voters in a Focus Group and then a discussion that she had.

That I listened to and was like, oh, my gosh, yes, more of this discussion with David French from The New York Times about character in politics, all the different dimensions of that.

They talked about a number of different candidates and races.

So grab your fries and say hooray.

David French is here to play on French Friday.

It's French Friday.

Hey, everybody.

Welcome back.

I am Sky Jatani.

I'm joined today by David French because it's French Friday.

Hi, David.

Among other things, Appleton was charged with violating PCA Book of Church Order 21-5, which states that a minister must, "...adorn the profession of the gospel in the manner worthy of his life." "...walk with exemplary piety before the flock." What was the evidence cited against him? Among other things, a number of the charges stemmed from Appleton's social media posts, which were critical of Tim Keller, Russell Moore, R.

Scott Clark, and David French.

For example, in a March 7th Facebook post from 2018, Appleton wrote, quote, End quote.

Of Clark, he wrote in 2022, quote, Of Modern Seminaries, he posted in April of 2025, quote, End quote.

Moore, now the editor-in-chief at the very liberal Christianity Today that is run by a lady reverend, is a turncoat and a snake, and Appleton was completely justified in pointing that out.

As for Clark, he too has pushed radical Two Kingdoms theology and feminism, which has borne terrible fruit, as Appleton pointed out.

David French really is an odious troll who has repeatedly attacked Christians and advanced leftist causes like unfettered immigration and abortion.

Most disturbing about all of this, however, is the way a women's ministry leader revolted against her pastor, spread false reports, gossiped, and testified to the effect that a godly man was deposed from office.

Podcasting was like my second mountain, as David Brooks would put it.

One of the shows I launched, Talk of Politics and Religion, this one, Talk of Politics and Religion Without Killing Each Other, was lending some great guests, including David Brooks, as well as David French, Danielle Allen, Wajahat Ali, Christy Todd Whitman, Lisa Sharon Harper, so many other accomplished, interesting voices.

Knowing that booking high quality guests is a hurdle other podcasters struggle with, I decided to throw my hat in the ring with organizations such as Podcast Movement and Podfest when they put out calls for speakers, not to sell anything, just to help other producers and start to feel more a part of this new community.

But each time I got to the part of the applications where they ask about race and gender identity, I couldn't help but wonder if my answers would be read as shorthand for uninteresting, uncool, and unwanted.

The first term, it was much more adversarial.

The second term, he's, I mean, you're seeing it now on display in Washington, much more conciliatory, focused on friendship and trying to demonstrate that he is an equal.

Now that serves Chairman Xi's interests really well.

He's serving an unprecedented third term as chair of the Communist Party of China.

A lot going on.

Joining us, Punchbowl News co-founder and MSNOW political contributor Jake Sherman, New York Times opinion columnist David French, Hofstra University law professor and author of Who Decides Who Decides on Substack, James Sample, and MSNOW political analyst and host of the Fast Politics podcast, Molly Jong Fast.

All right.

I want to get to the press stuff in a second, but first I want to talk about the midterms.

But, you know, these are things these are more headwinds for these Republicans.

Yeah.

So interestingly, in what Donald Trump is focused on, certainly not trying to help people out, what he keeps on saying, and this is where, David French, I want you to come in.

He keeps bringing up national security in order to justify his focus on the ballroom.

Uh-huh.

And we should mention our other affiliated podcast, Advisory Opinions, with Sarah Isgur and David French.

And so Vic and I wrote an article for a faculty-edited journal out of the University of Chicago, faculty edited by Will Baude, on the independent state legislature theory and why it was bunk, because state legislatures aren't independent.

They answer to their state constitutions as construed by state supreme courts.

And that mix isn't that much better when it comes to the current state of the legislative branch, which leaves the judicial branch with the Supreme Court sitting on top of it.

So how much hope should we place in this institution? And what should be our concerns? I explored these and other questions with David French, a leading commentator on the Supreme Court.

I always love talking with David, and in this conversation, I especially appreciated how we explored what are the distinctively Christian resources that we can bring to bolstering hope for this critical institution at this critical moment.

Here's my conversation with David.