The Hill reports:
A Republican running for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia suggested that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) faced conflicts of interests because his wife’s father is a “wealthy Chinaperson.”
Don Blankenship during a Monday appearance on a West Virginia radio show pointed to McConnell’s marriage to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
“I have an issue when the father-in-law is a wealthy Chinaperson,” Blankenship said in response to a question about an ad produced by a super PAC linked to McConnell that accuses the former coal magnate of poisoning local drinking water. Chao’s father owns a shipping company in China.
The New York Times reports:
Don Blankenship is running for the United States Senate as a proud West Virginian with Appalachian roots, but his primary residence is a $2.4 million villa with palm trees and an infinity pool near Las Vegas.
Mr. Blankenship, a Republican loyalist of President Trump, is running an America First-style campaign and calls himself an “American competitionist,” but he admires China’s state-controlled economy and has expressed interest in gaining Chinese citizenship.
The former coal mining executive is widely known for spending a year in prison for his role in a mining explosion that claimed 29 lives. Yet he is running as a champion of miners and has bought TV ads that challenge settled facts about his role in the disaster.
Blankenship, who himself is married to a Chinese immigrant, is the only candidate in the race who has not disclosed his personal finances, which is required by law. According to Blankeship, there isn’t “much of a penalty” for flouting the law. The second clip below is one of his ads about his conviction for the mining deaths.