Don Blankenship, Republican Senate candidate in West Virginia, released a political campaign ad in which he referred to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as "Cocaine Mitch," Newsweek reported.
The candidate, a coal magnate, previously spent a year in prison following an explosion at a mine he owned in which 29 workers were killed.
"Politicians are running a lot of crazy ads… they blew up the coal mines and then put me in prison. Now they’re running ads saying the coal mine blew up, and I went to prison. There’s no surprise there," Blankenship said in the ad.
"One of my goals as U.S. senator will be to ditch Cocaine Mitch. When you’re voting for me, you’re voting for the sake of the kids," Blankenship said.
Blankenship on Tuesday released an explanation for why he used the term "Cocaine Mitch."
"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. The company was implicated recently in smuggling cocaine from Colombia to Europe; hidden aboard a company ship carrying foreign coal was $7 million of cocaine and that is why we’ve deemed him 'Cocaine Mitch,'" the statement said.
Blankenship has criticized McConnell before. "He is a swamp captain," Blankenship said earlier in April.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.