McConnell 2020 Senate Campaign Sells “Cocaine Mitch” T-Shirts: “Become An Official Member Of The Cartel!”

Josh Israel reports at Think Progress:

The nickname stems from the 2018 West Virginia Republican Senate primary. In that race, coal baron Don Blankenship, the former Massey Energy CEO who served a one-year sentence in federal prison for conspiring to violate mine safety rules, ran ads promising to replace McConnell as the Senate’s GOP leader. The spots, which referred to the majority leader as “Cocaine Mitch,” attempted to tie McConnell — without any evidence — to a drug smuggling operation involving a company cargo ship owned by his wife’s family.

The above-linked report notes that McConnell’s home state of Kentucky has been hit “especially hard” by the current drug crisis and has one of the nation’s highest rates of fatal overdoses.

A year ago, a legend was born. Own your piece of history. #CocaineMitch

— Team Mitch (@Team_Mitch) May 8, 2019

Become an official member of the Cartel! pic.twitter.com/NldVtTeJgj

— Team Mitch (@Team_Mitch) May 8, 2019