A provocative new column at The Federalist is urging men to confront any wives or girlfriends who express support for Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother on trial for allegedly strangling her three young children. The piece argues that such misplaced sympathy poses a direct threat to child safety and should not be tolerated in any relationship.
The column, titled “Men, Get Ahold Of Lindsay Clancy-Supporting Girlfriends And Wives,” points to a recent case in North Dakota as a warning about the consequences of sympathizing with accused child killers. Authorities there alleged that 22-year-old Kailey Erhart attempted to murder her three children, succeeding with two, after telling the father to “Say goodbye to your kids.” The father reportedly managed to take a gun from Erhart and leave the house, but the children were allegedly slashed with a knife.
While it is not clear whether Erhart was inspired by the Clancy case, the column notes the similarities are “undeniable.” Like Clancy, Erhart allegedly had previously expressed thoughts of harming her children.
Clancy, 36, is on trial for murder, accused of strangling her two sons and a daughter while her husband was out on a grocery run. Her defense does not dispute that she killed the children but argues she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was prescribed a dangerous combination of antidepressants by negligent medical providers.
As the trial has progressed, the column observes, a noticeable number of women have taken to TikTok and other social media to express support for Clancy — writing fan mail, offering excuses for her actions, and in some cases saying they could imagine doing the same thing. Video clips show female protesters outside Plymouth Superior Court applauding Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington.
The column brands this behavior “abhorrent” and says such women are “unwell and not fit to be close to children.” It dismisses the notion that the case is primarily about mental health or the trials of early motherhood, insisting that it is about murder.
A call to action for men
The author’s central plea is directed at men: if you know a woman who supports Clancy, it is your responsibility to make her stop — or to end the relationship. “No man who knows such a woman can afford to be quiet about the misplaced support of a child murderer,” the column warns.
The piece mocks what it describes as a “sadistic doom-scroll cycle” among middle-class women who convince themselves that independence means avoiding accountability. It suggests these women sit on their couches consuming Clancy-related TikTok content while crafting conspiracy theories about the husband or the health care system, even though the defense itself does not deny Clancy killed her children.
The column does acknowledge that Clancy’s husband may have been negligent in failing to ensure his wife got proper care, and that her medical providers may have committed malpractice. But it argues that none of that excuses the killings.
“That Clancy attempted to kill herself and hysterically sobs in court doesn’t bring back the lives she took, whether she committed the killings under a state of emotional duress or not,” the author writes.
Broader cultural debate
The column has reignited debates about how the public responds to mothers accused of harming their children, and about the role of social media in amplifying sympathy for defendants. It also adds to ongoing discussions about postpartum mental health, the legal concept of insanity, and how society balances empathy for struggling mothers with accountability for violent acts.
While The Federalist’s piece is firmly opinionated, it draws on real events — the Clancy trial and the North Dakota case — to make its argument. The column’s central claim, that supporting Clancy endangers children, is presented as an assertion rather than a documented fact, but the author urges men to treat it as an urgent call to action.
As the Clancy trial continues, the public reaction to it — both in the courtroom and online — seems likely to remain a flashpoint in the broader cultural conflict over motherhood, mental health, and justice.
Source: thefederalist.com — https://thefederalist.com/2026/08/24/men-get-ahold-of-your-lindsay-clancy-supporting-girlfriends-and-wives-before-its-too-late/