Don Blankenship Continues to Stand by ‘Chinapeople’ Comment on Election Night
Convicted coal baron Don Blankenship defends “China people” comments to @ABC: “We refer to ourselves as Appalachia people, West Virginia people, poor people, whatever…the official name of China is the People’s Republic of China, so they’re China people.” https://t.co/6CmPQXqK2u pic.twitter.com/9lL0pWgzii
— ABC News (@ABC) May 8, 2018
Don Blankenship, a controversial candidate in the GOP’s contentious West Virginia Senate primary, says he will not apologize for his racially charged “Chinapeople” attacks directed toward Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his wife Elaine Chao, who is the US Transportation secretary.
Blankenship, who rose to viral fame after he released an attack ad against McConnell referring to him as “Cocaine Mitch” last week, attacked the majority leader for supposedly helping “Chinapeople” and his “China family” — a jab at his wife — rather than focusing on aiding the American people. The comments have stirred up much controversy in the press and among the Republican Party, which led President Donald Trump to denounce Blankenship on Twitter and call for voters to support the opponent of the disgraced coal baron.
Despite the controversy, Blankenship is not backing down from the slurs.
“We refer to ourselves as Appalachia people, West Virginia people, poor people, whatever,” Blankenship said to ABC News tonight. “The official name of China is the People’s Republic of China, so they’re China people. A hundred million of them are not Chinese.”
As for McConnell’s thoughts on the attacks, he plans on waiting for the results of the primary before commenting.
“We’re gonna find out what happens in West Virginia tonight and I may have more to say on that tomorrow,” McConnell said, adding that he will not reveal the Republican Party’s next move on Blankenship if he wins tonight.
Watch above, via ABC News.
[images via screengrab]
