A Senate Hopeful’s TV Ad Goes Over the Line

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship was released from prison last May after serving a year behind bars for neglecting safety laws prior to the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in Raleigh County, West Virginia, which killed 29 coal miners in 2010.

Now, he’s one of a handful of Republican Senate candidates hoping for an opportunity to unseat West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin this November. Blankenship has not received his party’s nomination yet, but he’s already going after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

In his latest TV ad, Blankenship says, “One of my goals is to ditch ‘Cocaine Mitch.'” For context, The Nation reported in 2014 the seizure of 90 pounds of cocaine from a Foremost Maritime Corp. freight boat, which McConnell’s Taiwanese in-laws owned. McConnell is married to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who was born in Taiwan and served as President George W. Bush’s secretary of labor.

In the ad, Blankenship also claims McConnell is working to create jobs for “China people” and that his “China family” is paying him millions of dollars to do so.

This is not the only time Blankenship has gone after McConnell vis-à-vis his family. Blankenship told The New York Times in an April cheap shot, “I have an issue when the father-in-law is a wealthy Chinaperson.”

The Senate Leadership Fund, a pro-McConnell PAC, fired back Thursday, pointing out that Blankenship himself considered moving to China back in 2009.

“I’m actually considering moving to China or somewhere and being more like George Washington, you know,” Blankenship said during a 2009 phone call that was used as evidence during his court case, according to the Associated Press.

“If I can get citizenship, I can probably get citizenship in India. I’d rather be in China, but the hard work and the effort and the creativity that we put into running businesses in the U.S. would be much more valuable in other places.”

President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., also spoke out against Blankenship. He tweeted on May 3, “I hate to lose. So I’m gonna go out on a limb here and ask the people of West Virginia to make a wise decision and reject Blankenship! No more fumbles like Alabama. We need to win in November. #wv #wvpol.”

Trump Jr. added that he was not endorsing any candidate in the race, but that he believed there are two conservative Republicans running who can unseat Manchin.

Blankenship has campaigned as the “anti-Establishment, ‘drain-the-swamp'” candidate. With the state’s U.S. Senate primary set for Tuesday, May 8, it will soon be revealed how West Virginia Republicans feel about Blankenship — and McConnell.

Tom Joyce is a freelance writer from the South Shore of Massachusetts. He covers sports, pop culture, and politics and has contributed to The Federalist, Newsday, ESPN, and other outlets.