Lindsay Clancy Wants a PARDON, Plus Violent Leftists as Charlie Kirk Anniversary Approaches, and the Future of MAGA, with Victor Davis Hanson | Ep. 1393

September 8, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

The Clancy Mistrial, a Copycat Killing, and the State of the Counter-Revolution

The defense attorney for Lindsay Clancy—the Massachusetts mother who admitted to strangling her three young children—went on national television and asked President Trump for a pardon. The only problem: Clancy was charged under state law, and the president cannot pardon state crimes. When a local CBS reporter later pointed this out, attorney Kevin Reddington changed his story, saying he just wanted Trump's "clout" to pressure the district attorney. Megyn Kelly was blunt: "I think he was today years old when he learned that."

The mistrial—declared after seven days of deliberation when the jury deadlocked 11-1—has already produced what appears to be a copycat killing. In Frankfort, Illinois, 40-year-old Corey Walsh is charged with first-degree murder for hanging her two-year-old son Barrett from a basement rafter. According to prosecutors, Walsh had been following the Clancy trial closely. Three and a half hours before her son was discovered dead, she was discussing the case in a group text with friends. Walsh told police she killed her son because he was "the devil" and "the Antichrist." Her attorney says she was suffering a "psychotic episode."

The Deterrence Question

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What you'll learn

1 Timestamped Outline
2 (01:25) **Lindsey Clancy Mistrial and Bizarre Pardon Request** - Megyn opens with the fallout from the mistrial and Kevin Reddington's ABC interview asking President Trump for a pardon
3 (05:09) **Reddington Seeks Plea Deal, Ex-Husband Fights Conspiracy Theories** - The defense attorney hopes for an agreement with the DA, while Patrick Clancy threatens legal action against those accusing him
4 (10:55) **Debating the Legal Insanity Defense** - Megyn rejects the notion that mental illness alone excuses murder, arguing Clancy's actions showed premeditation and awareness
5 (14:37) **Copycat Murder in Illinois** - A second mother, Corey Walsh, killed her two-year-old son and reportedly followed the Clancy trial closely
6 (19:03) **The Societal Contagion of Filicide** - Megyn draws a parallel to suicide contagion, arguing media coverage of these cases can be dangerously suggestive
7 (24:21) **Victor Davis Hanson Joins: The Deterrence Problem** - Hanson argues that if society signals this behavior is acceptable, it removes the only thing stopping people from doing terrible things

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Victor Davis Hanson

Show Notes

Megyn Kelly begins the show by discussing Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer Kevin Reddington going on GMA this morning and asking President Trump for a pardon despite Clancy facing only state charges, all the ways George Stephanopoulos failed to deliver as an interviewer, the disturbing case of a mother allegedly killing her two-year-old after she became invested in the Lindsay Clancy case, the chance this was a disturbing "copycat" killing, and more. Then Victor Davis Hanson, author of “The Counterrevolution,” joins to discuss the sickness on the political left, the disturbing celebration of Charlie Kirk’s death by some leftists as the one-year anniversary approaches, the violent tendencies of some on the left, what history can teach us about the future of the GOP and MAGA, VP JD Vance's role and whether he can hold the coalition together, whether the current midterm polls can be trusted, what voters should realistically expect heading into this year’s elections, Megyn's hesitation about her kids potentially going off to a woke college, the challenges facing conservative parents today, and more.

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