A prominent conservative voice at The New York Times says he has "never seen a viler" attack ad in American political history, accusing President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement of demonstrating once again that they have no rock bottom when it comes to ethics and morality.

David French — a Times columnist, former attorney, and onetime staff writer for the conservative National Review — has been an outspoken critic of Trump since the president's entry into politics during the 2016 presidential race. In his latest column, published Sunday, French directed his harshest criticism at Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy over a widely denounced attack ad targeting his Democratic opponent, Amy Acton. The full column is available via The New York Times.

Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who sought the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and Acton, who served as Ohio's top health official during the early coronavirus pandemic, are vying for the governorship in one of the races on this year's midterm ballot.

The ad featured Acton's estranged mother calling her daughter a liar, exploiting what French described as the "evil" family history that Acton managed to escape. In his view, Ramaswamy made a parent's betrayal of a child all the worse by using it to score political points and the sordid episode, he argued, exposed 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," French wrote. "If Ramaswamy had a molecule of decency, he would take the ad down and apologize. Instead, he attacked Acton."

Trump, rather than distancing himself from the spot, praised it, commending Acton's mother for her "courage," while Vice President JD Vance — who represented Ohio in the Senate before joining the ticket — 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."

French traced that mindset to the "D.C. cocktail party" smear familiar in conservative circles — the idea that conservative convictions crumble the instant they gain access to elite institutions or a first taste of elite approval. He noted that he has faced the accusation himself for more than a decade, ever since he said he 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..." he wrote.

To many MAGA Republicans, French explained, merely being attacked and despised by the political left is treated as a sign of righteousness — an idea with roots in the persecution complex ingrained in evangelical teachings.

The clash arrives with Ohio's gubernatorial election set for November, placing the dispute over the ad squarely inside the state's general-election campaign — and pitting a columnist with conservative credentials against the movement that now dominates the party he once served as a writer.

"Given enough time, every institution takes on the character of its leader," French 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."

This article is based on reporting by Alternet.