W.V. Senate Candidate Don Blankenship Blasts ‘Cocaine Mitch’ McConnell’s ‘China Family’ In Ad

West Virginia Senatorial candidate Don Blankenship attacked sitting Senate Majority Leader and fellow Republican Mitch McConnell in a new campaign advertisement titled “Ditch Mitch.”

In the ad, Blankenship called McConnell a “swamp captain” who “created millions of job for China people” and received millions of dollars from his “China family.” He was referring to McConnell’s wife and current Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, who is of Asian descent.

Blankenship also released an ad in which he called McConnell “Cocaine Mitch,” explaining that it had to do with his father-in-law, Foremost Group owner James Chao.

“Mitch McConnell and his family have extensive ties to China. His father-in-law who founded and owns a large Chinese shipping company has given Mitch and his wife millions of dollars over the years,” Blankenship said in a statement on his website. “The company was implicated recently in smuggling cocaine from Colombia to Europe, hidden aboard a company ship carrying foreign coal was $7 million dollars of cocaine and that is why we’ve deemed him ‘Cocaine Mitch.’”

Blankenship is unpopular even within the Republican party — and with President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.

“I hate to lose,” Trump Jr. wrote on Twitter. “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.”

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

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 3, 2018

Trump Jr. later said that he was not officially endorsing anyone for the West Virginia Senatorial race.