South Carolina Democrat and injury attorney, Mullins McLeod, responded to calls to end his campaign for governor on Thursday.
Following the release of his arrest video footage from May, the state Democratic Party issued a statement suggesting he exit the race.
McLeod responded through a reel posted on both his Facebook and YouTube accounts.
“Well that didn’t take long,” McLeod said at the beginning of the minute and a half video.
McLeod stated that he knew this was coming saying, “I felt confident that they would come for me because I am a threat to the establishment, which is bipartisan in this state, by the way.”
He made it clear that the 2026 South Carolina governor’s race will still include him, despite the recent backlash.
“I share with the voters that no matter how much they try to silence me, no matter how much they try to get me out of this race, that I would not stand down,” McLeod said.
Towards the end of the video, McLeod shared that he has “prepared his entire adult life” for this moment, referring to the campaign, and that he has a duty to South Carolina voters.
“My plan and my purpose has never been clearer,” McLeod said.
He did not mention what his plan nor purpose entailed in the reel.
McLeod, however, did describe the state government as corrupt in his announcement video on Monday, and his desire to get rid of the so-called corruption.
“So I am going to keep my head down and I’m going to keep working. And I’m going to keep being the perfectly imperfect person that God made me to be,” he said as the video concluded.
McLeod announced his race to be the next South Carolina governor on Monday and just one day later, the dash-cam footage from his arrest in Charleston, SC in May was released per a Freedom of Information request.
The Charleston Police Department did not say who requested the footage.
The South Carolina Democratic Party Chair, Christale Spain, then made a statement on X calling for McLeod to remove himself from the race.
