Trump administration adviser Lynne Patton said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s bid to raise money for re-election off his “Cocaine Mitch” moniker isn’t funny or appropriate.
“It’s almost like making drugs cool, and they’re not,” said Patton in a Friday interview with Bold TV. “Not to sound like Nancy Reagan, but drugs are not cool, just so you know.”
Patton, an administrator in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said McConnell’s embrace of the nickname is insensitive to people suffering from drug addiction. Patton has openly discussed her struggle with substance abuse and addiction.
“I think depending on what day it is, whether or not Mitch McConnell is a friend of the president, but as somebody who has personally struggled with cocaine addiction, I don’t think that that is funny or appropriate, I wouldn’t endorse that on any side of the aisle,” Patton said.
McConnell’s, R-Ky., reelection campaign tweeted Thursday that it had its biggest fundraising day after offering to sell “Cocaine Mitch” red T-shirts on his campaign website.
Good News: Yesterday we broke our single-day online fundraising record thanks to all you Cartel Members. THANK YOU.
Even Better: We’ve now added a bulk order option. Click below and get your #CocaineMitch shirts for the whole squad.
— Team Mitch (@Team_Mitch) May 9, 2019
The website urges supporters to “join the ‘Team Mitch Cartel’” by purchasing the $35 shirts, and donating up to $2,800 per election.
Former U.S. Senate candidate Don Blankenship, a West Virginia coal executive, started the “Cocaine Mitch” moniker in a campaign ad.
The nickname refers to debunked allegations that drugs were found aboard a commercial cargo ship owned by the family of McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, the secretary of the Transportation Department.
