Don Blankenship, a Republican candidate for Senate in West Virginia, came under fire during an interview on Thursday over his recent comment describing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Asian-American father-in-law as a "wealthy China-person."
McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, is married to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. In an interview on a West Virginia radio show, Blankenship, who is the former CEO of Massey Energy, questioned McConnell has a conflict of interest concerning foreign relations because Chao’s father, James Si-Cheng Chao, is, according to Blankenship, "a wealthy China-person" with "a lot of connections to some of the brass, if you will, in China."
He added: "I read in books that people think [McConnell is] soft on China."
On "America's Newsroom" on Thursday, co-anchor Sandra Smith asked the candidate why he targeted McConnell and his family.
"It's not a target on his family at all," Blankenship said, choosing not to address the language he used in the radio interview. "It's just an observation that Mitch's family is very well-connected in China."
McConnell dismissed Blankenship's accusation as "ridiculous," in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, adding, "my father-in-law is an American who lives in New York."
When asked who he would prefer to see win the West Virginia GOP Senate primary, McConnell only said "somebody who can actually win a general election."
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