(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) South Carolina Democrats were reeling Friday after the disclosure of a months-old arrest video showed their leading gubernatorial candidate unleashing a drunken diatribe about well-known political figures, including former President Barack Obama and Republican Rep. Nancy Mace.
A 17-minute portion of the cringeworthy half-hour rant by Democrat lawyer William “Mullins” McLeod went viral on X after Charleston’s Post and Courier first broke the story on Tuesday.
The newspaper had filed a public-information request for the dash-cam footage after McLeod became the first—and, to date, only—Democrat to file for the 2026 gubernatorial race.
McLeod was arrested around 9:30 p.m. on May 14 in Charleston’s posh and historic Battery neighborhood after he was reported to be “yelling at the top of his lungs,” while clad only in underwear and what appeared to be either slippers or loafers.
While en route to the police station, where he was charged with disorderly conduct, the prominent attorney and two-time chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party threatened physical violence against several political adversaries—including Mace, a possible GOP challenger in the governor race.
“So, let’s get back to the teeth thing—I’m going to kick every one of them in, all right?” McLeod said in a portion of the incoherent rant directed at Mace. “And when I’m through kicking them in … find me a dentist, and they’re gonna put all your teeth—before you swallow them, you dumb f**king coward—back in your teeth.”
McLeod referred to both Mace and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley as “b**ch” and also made pejorative remarks directed at black Democrats, including former state Rep. Bakari Sellers (no known relation to the author).
McLeod initially referred to Sellers as a “friend,” referencing their work together in negotiating an $88 million settlement for victims of a 2015 mass shooting at a black church.
“The only reason I didn’t let Bakari do the people’s work is because I like a little heavy lifting,” McLeod said, before appearing to refer to the well-known CNN commentator by the n-word.
McLeod praised Obama as a “smooth” talker.
Meanwhile, he attacked Republicans including Mace and President Donald Trump (with whom he also claimed to be cousins) as “dogwhistle” racists. He invoked late-GOP strategist Lee Atwater who promoted the so-called Southern strategy to woo racist whites away from their longtime home in the Democratic Party.
“Nancy … tell the world right now what you did in the halls of Congress was the greatest sin ever committed in the history of this nation,” McLeod said.
State Democrats were among those calling for McLeod to drop out of the gubernatorial race.
“It is clear that Mr. McLeod is navigating profound challenges and should focus on his mental and emotional well-being instead of a campaign for governor,” state Democrat Chairwoman Christale Spain in a statement.
SCDP Chair Statement on the release of the Dash-Cam footage from Mullins McLeod pic.twitter.com/xVCO24tc6y
— South Carolina Democratic Party (@scdp) August 13, 2025
Sellers said his former colleague needed to explain himself.
“I don’t know if there is an explanation, but that’s on him” Sellers told the South Carolina Daily Gazette.”
Mace spokeswoman Sydney Long encouraged McLeod to seek treatment.
He “threatened to violently kick a woman’s teeth in,” Long said. “Those who promote violence against women should never hold public office. We hope he gets the help he needs.”
McLeod, who previously launched a failed bid for governor in 2010, offered no indication that he planned to exit the race as of Saturday, reassuring fellow Democrats that all would be revealed in time.
“The only thing I’d ask the voters is to please give me a little bit of grace and know that long before we go to election day, they’ll know exactly what happened,” he told the Post and Courier. “And when they learn what happened around my unlawful arrest, it will be a reason why I absolutely need to be our state’s governor.”
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
