The Never Trump movement received another setback Sunday night as David French, a conservative writer and lawyer, announced that he would not mount an independent campaign for president.

It came less than a week after conservative editor Bill Kristol supposedly handpicked French as an alternative to Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

"After days of prayer, reflection, and serious study of the possibilities, I am not going to run as an independent candidate for president of the United States," French wrote in a column for National Review.

French suggested there was a window for an independent candidate to succeed in the 2016 election, thanks to the historically low favorability ratings of Trump and his likely Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. But he said he was not the man for the job.

"Given the timing, the best chance for success goes to a person who either is extraordinarily wealthy (or has immediate access to extraordinary wealth) or is a transformational political talent," French said in the column.