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West Virginia GOP Candidate Don Blankenship Blasts McConnell’s ‘China Family’ in New Ad

Don Blankenship, the former coal executive, has targeted McConnell almost exclusively in his Senate messaging.

Don Blankenship, the former coal executive who spent a year in jail following a 2010 mine disaster that killed 29 people in West Virginia, has released another bizarre ad ahead of the Republican Senate primary on Tuesday. In it, he continues to target Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell—a man he’s already referred to as “Cocaine Mitch”—and discusses his family in racist terms. “Swamp captain Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China people,” Blankenship says in a monotone voice in the latest ad. “While doing so, Mitch has gotten rich. In fact, his China family has given him tens of millions of dollars.” McConnell's wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, is Chinese-American and her father owns a shipping company.