Republican Senate candidate says his ‘China people’ campaign ad isn’t racist

An ad that truly has to be seen to be believed

Republic Senate hopeful and ex-convict Don Blankenship has released a truly dumbfounding campaign ad attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for allegedly being in the pocket of the “China people.”

Here are Blankenship’s words, though the ad really must be seen to be believed:

Swamp Captain Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China people. While doing so, Mitch has gotten rich. In fact, his China family has given him tens of millions of dollars.

Mitch’s swamp people are now running false, negative ads against me. They are also childishly calling me despicable and mentally ill. The war to drain the swamp and create jobs for West Virginia people has begun.

I will beat Joe Manchin and ditch Cocaine Mitch for the sake of the kids.

Blankenship, 68, is a former West Virginia coal baron who decided to run for the US Senate after spending one year in prison on charges of conspiring to violate mine safety regulations following a 2010 mine disaster that killed 29 men.

Establishment GOP members like McConnell believe that Blankenship has little chance of taking incumbent Democratic Senator Joe Manchin’s seat in the upcoming mid-term elections, and therefore have worked against his candidacy in favor of the two other Republican hopefuls.

Meanwhile, Blankenship has made attacking McConnell a central part of his own campaign, paying particular attention to the Kentucky senator’s alleged China connections.

McConnell’s wife is Elaine Chao, the current US Secretary of Transportation. Chao was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the US when she was 8 years old. Her family runs a successful shipping company in New York, and Blankenship calling McConnell “Cocaine Mitch” is a reference to cocaine being found aboard a boat owned by Chao’s family in 2014.

At a Fox News debate on May 1st, Blankenship also accused McConnell of being “one of the few senators that voted after Tiananmen Square not to have punitive actions against China for human rights violations.” Politifact rated this claim as “false,” noting that McConnell had voted in favor of sanctions in the immediate aftermath of the massacre.

While Blankenship has been widely condemned for making “racial attacks” against McConnell, he has responded to the controversy by claiming that he has never said anything about race:

“We’re confused on our staff as to how it can be racist when there’s no mention of race. There’s no race,” Blankenship said. “Races are Negro, white Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian. There’s no mention of a race. I’ve never used a race word.”

To make this all the more strange, according to a New York Times report, Blankenship’s own fiancée was born in China and he has expressed interest in gaining Chinese citizenship himself.

In a 2009 interview, Blankenship praised China’s “dictatorial capitalism” and had this to say about the country: “I’m actually considering moving to China or somewhere and being more like George Washington if I can get citizenship. I can probably get citizenship in India. I’d rather be in China.”