Host Bill Maher has voiced his confusion regarding the public support for Lindsay Clancy, a mother accused of murdering her three young children. On his August 28 show, Maher drew a comparison between the women protesting outside Clancy's trial and the supporters of Luigi Mangione, who has admitted to killing a Manhattan executive.
Clancy, 36, has admitted to strangling her children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, on January 24, 2023, but her defense claims she was suffering from postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors maintain that the killings were intentional. Clancy has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility and remains paralyzed from the waist down following an alleged suicide attempt after the deaths of her children.
Maher questioned the existence of Clancy's supporters, noting the presence of "hundreds of women" outside the Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts. "What I don't get is why does she have fans?" he asked during a panel discussion. He likened these supporters to those of Luigi Mangione, a 28-year-old who admitted to killing healthcare executive Brian Thompson in December 2024 and has a consistent group of mostly female supporters who attend his court appearances in New York City.
Mangione pleaded guilty on August 14, with prosecutors stating his actions could not be justified by any grievance or cause. His legal team is seeking to have the case dismissed on double jeopardy grounds, and he is scheduled for sentencing in December.
Maher speculated that Clancy's supporters might view her as a "cause célèbre." Journalist Molly Jong-Fast, also on the panel, acknowledged that postpartum psychosis is a real and serious condition, which has become a more prominent topic of discussion due to Clancy's highly publicized case. Jong-Fast noted that Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse, had a history of seeking psychiatric care and had been prescribed numerous medications. The killings occurred less than three weeks after Clancy was discharged from a psychiatric hospital.
Beyond the extreme nature of Clancy's case, Maher observed a broader trend of women expressing dissatisfaction with motherhood on social media. He suggested that many women are more openly discussing their frustrations with parenting, a sentiment that might have been suppressed in the past.
This discussion follows comments by Megyn Kelly, who also compared Clancy to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, albeit while acknowledging the case's complexity. The jury in Clancy's trial began deliberations on Thursday afternoon, with jurors requesting to see the knife used in the attempted suicide and pill bottles found at the scene. Deliberations are expected to continue as the jury weighs charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter.