Don Blankenship, a former coal CEO and GOP candidate for the West Virginia Senate nomination, accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., of being a “swamp captain” who have been given millions of dollars from his “China family.”
“Swamp captain Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China people. While doing so Mitch has gotten rich,” Blankenship says in an ad that was released Thursday. “In fact his China family has given him tens of millions of dollars.”
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Blankenship remains unmoved amid backlash for his use of the word “Chinaperson.” Earlier this week, Blankenship made similar remarks about McConnell, who is married to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from China.
“This idea that calling someone a ‘Chinaperson,’ I mean, I’m an American person,” Blankenship said during a Fox News debate in Morgantown, W.Va., on Tuesday. “I don’t see this insinuation by the press that there’s something racist about saying ‘a Chinaperson.’ Some people are Korean-persons, and some of them are African-persons. It’s not any slander.”
In his new ad, Blankenship also accuses McConnell’s “swamp people” of attacking him with negative ads.
“They are also childishly calling me despicable and mentally ill,” he says. “The war to drain the swamp and create jobs for West Virginia people has begun.”
A GOP super PAC with connections to McConnell has invested $1.3 million in the fight against Blankenship.
Additionally, Josh Holmes, a political adviser and former staffer of McConnell’s, has called Blankenship “mentally ill” and referred to him “as contemptible a human being as you will find.”
“For those asking, this is my response to West Virginia Roy Moore: ‘This clown is a walking, talking case study for the limitation of a prison’s ability to rehabilitate,'” Holmes tweeted in response to the ad Thursday.
Blankenship was convicted of conspiracy to violate mine safety standards following the 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine. As a result, he was in prison for a year.
Blankenship will face Rep. Evan Jenkins, R-W.Va., and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey in a primary contest next Tuesday.
