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by WILL FOLKS
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The 2026 gubernatorial campaign of prominent Democrat trial lawyer Mullins McLeod was always going to be an exercise in irrationality. McLeod is, after all, campaigning as a Democrat in a state which hasn’t elected one in twenty years – and which hasn’t elected one as governor this century.
But no one could have anticipated McLeod’s candidacy would completely derail before it even began – or that he would respond to that derailment with a mixture of tone deafness and gaslighting typically reserved for a reality television reunion.
To recap: Days before he was originally scheduled to launch his campaign for governor, FITSNews reported McLeod had been arrested for disorderly conduct on the Charleston battery. The written report (.pdf) from his arrest was bad enough – with responding officers from the Charleston Police Department (CPD) noting McLeod was “screaming” while “wearing only his underwear and shoes” at the time. When officers attempted to ascertain the reason for his bizarre behavior he “began yelling louder and locking out his arms.” Asked for his name, McLeod claimed he was “God” and “Superman.”
As he was being booked, McLeod allegedly “continued to ramble incoherently and at one point lashed out and kicked another prisoner.”
Despite the unhinged behavior described by police, McLeod plowed forward with his candidacy… although his Quixotic campaign took another huge hit last week when dashcam footage from his arrest was released.
If the written descriptions of McLeod’s crash out were bad, the video and audio of it were nothing short of devastating…
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In the widely watched dashcam video, McLeod conversed with dead attorneys, berated police, dropped several N-bombs and hurled threats at his Republican gubernatorial rivals – including attorney general Alan Wilson and U.S. congresswoman Nancy Mace.
“Alan fucking Wilson, I’m daring you right now, motherfucker, while you got all the teeth in your mouth,” McLeod said “I’m gonna kick your fucking teeth in.”
Rather than take accountability for his actions, McLeod has gone on the offensive… bizarrely.
Responding to calls for him to exit the race (including calls from his own party), McLeod has insisted “this is the precise moment I have prepared my entire adult life to handle.”
The problem? He’s not handling the moment well… at all.
McLeod has posted several videos following the dashcam footage being released which have raised further questions about his grip on reality… which would appear tenuous, at best. In one of the clips, he challenged police on their description of the clothing he was wearing at the time of his arrest.
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“The way you can tell the difference between underwear and shorts is underwear does not have two front pockets and a drawstring,” McLeod said, pulling out the aforementioned pockets and lifting his shirt to reveal the aforementioned drawstring.
“This is a pair of shorts,” he stated definitively.
He also extolled the benefits of going shirtless on the battery as “just something that guys do to feel free – and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
This week, McLeod is gaslighting voters – insisting he is the victim of lies from rival politicians and “manipulation” from the media.
“Politicians use lies,” McLeod said in his latest video. “And they use lies to manipulate us into believing certain things so that we will do one thing, vote for them. The media also, unfortunately, uses misinformation frequently. Now they use misinformation frequently for their own self-serving reasons – which is to make money.”
According to McLeod, lies and misinformation “travel fast.”
“There’s a saying I’ve used in courtrooms for many years and that is that a lie travels halfway around the world before the truth has time to put its pants on,” he said.
Wait… truth is not wearing pants? That’s actually a fitting analogy for McLeod, come to think of it…
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— Mullins McLeod for SC Governor (@McLeodSCGov) August 20, 2025
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According to McLeod, “last week was a pretty good example of that,” although he declined to specify how media coverage of his unhinged rant was in any way, shape or form inaccurate or misleading.
Apparently, he has a monopoly on the truth…
“The difference in me is – I’m a truth-teller,” McLeod said. “And you see when you’re a truth-teller, you’re able to see the truth so clearly it’s easy to speak the truth. You see, I know that while a lie may satisfy today’s desires, a lie has no future. You see, facts are a stubborn thing – and the truth stands on its own.”
What’s next for McLeod’s gaslighting gubernatorial campaign?
“Going forward, I’d just ask the voters to please give me grace,” McLeod concluded. “There’ll be a time when I’m able to tell my side of the story and in the interim just please remember that no matter how thin you try to pour a pancake, there are always two sides. And there’s two sides to this pancake. And I cannot wait to share with you.”
McLeod was supposed to share his side of the “pancake” in our studio last month, but never showed up. Our invitation for him to do so still stands, though, and hopefully he will avail himself of it.
As previously reported, sources close to McLeod have suggested he may have been “over-prescribed” certain medication on the night of his apparent episode – although it is not immediately clear what medication (and in what quantity) they are referring to. Nor is it clear how the alleged “over-prescription” could have prompted such a severe psychotic break.
In light of his recent actions, though, there’s a bigger question: given the apparent persistence of McLeod’s detachment from reality, what’s his excuse now?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
When in doubt.
talk about pancakes.
You can tell by looking at him he drinks alcohol every day, I hope he recovers.
I wonder if clouds look down on us and say, Hey look… That one is shaped like an idiot.
I would like to predict here that the 2026 Democratic candidate for gov will get fewer votes and a smaller % overall than in any election ever, they wont break 30%.
Why do we even care about this guy or Democrats in general for statewide elections? They don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of getting elected, even if he was a 6-4, photogenic, teetotalling Eagle Scout, former Air Force fighter pilot who later became a doctor, etc. The fact is the gig is up for the Marxist left that took over the Democrat party about 25 years ago, and South Carolinians want no part of it.