CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An ex-coal executive who's running for U.S. Senate after serving a prison sentence has unleashed a political ad that takes swipes at "China people" and calls the Senate majority leader "Cocaine Mitch."
Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is seeking the West Virginia seat now held by Sen. Joe Manchin, but his ad disparages Kentucky GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell.
Blankenship's ad says McConnell has created jobs for "China people" and charges that his "China family" has given him millions of dollars.
McConnell's wife is U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, whose parents are originally from China.
Blankenship says the ad is in response to false, negative ads that McConnell's "swamp people" are running against him.
A still taken from Blankenship's political ad.
Blankenship filed for the Senate seat after serving prison time for violating federal mine safety standards. So far, his campaign has been mostly self-funded. According to his filing with the Federal Election Commission last month, he's received a single $1,000 individual donation since announcing his candidacy late last year.
Blankenship was asked about the "China person" comment during a debate Tuesday in Morgantown.
"This idea that I called somebody a China person, I mean I'm an American person," Blankenship said. "I don't see this insinuation by the press that there's something racist about saying a China person. Some people are Korean persons and some of them are African persons. It's not any slander there."
Blankenship is at odds with McConnell, who he says is "spending millions to defeat me."
National GOP forces are believed to be behind the Mountain Families PAC, an organization created in March that has invested more than $700,000 attacking Blankenship on television. A spokesman for the Senate GOP's most powerful super PAC has declined to confirm or deny a connection to the group.
Blankenship's reference to "Cocaine Mitch" stems from a 2014 magazine article alleging that drugs were found aboard a commercial cargo ship owned by Chao's family.
Blankenship said in a statement Thursday that the establishment is doing everything it can to keep Manchin in office.
"I am not just ready to help President Trump drain the swamp— I am the only candidate that is capable of doing so. If I am not the Republican nominee against Joe Manchin in the fall, Manchin will win," he said.
Six Republican candidates are in the primary, including state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who was endorsed Thursday by Kentucky's junior U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.