Home

"Some people are Korean-persons, some people are African-persons"

West Virginia GOP Senate candidate Don Blankenship had defended his use of the term “Chinaperson” and continued to use “China people” in a new campaign video.

According to CNN, West Virginia GOP Senate candidate and NRA life member Don Blankenship defended his use of the term “Chinaperson” to describe the father-in-law of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during a Fox News GOP primary debate.

Blankenship was referring to McConnell’s wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

“This idea that calling someone a ‘Chinaperson’ — I mean, I’m an American-person — I don’t see this insinuation by the press that there is something racist about saying a ‘Chinaperson,'” Blankenship said. “Some people are Korean-persons, some people are African-persons — it’s not any slander there.”

He criticised McConnell for being “soft on China” and described his marriage to Chao as having “the potential for conflict of interest.”

“His family is very powerful in China and very powerful in the United States,” Blankenship added, saying that he’s “not going to DC to get along.”

In a new campaign video Don Blankenship used the term “China people” and called out “cocaine Mitch” again for his “China family”.

“Swamp captain Mitch McConnell has created millions of jobs for China people, while doing so, Mitch has gotten rich,” Blankenship says in the ad. “In fact, his China family has given him tens of millions of dollars. Mitch’s swamp people are now running false negative ads about me. They are also childishly calling me despicable and mentally ill.”

“The war to drain the swamp and create jobs for West Virginia people has begun. I will beat Joe Manchin and ditch cocaine Mitch for he sake of the kids.”

 

Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress slammed Blankenship’s comments in a statement.

“There’s no mystery to what Mr. Blankenship is doing,” she said. “It is intentional race baiting. I condemn his comments and urge him to stop going down this hateful and divisive path.”

Chu said his remarks were reflective of Trump’s presidency. “Unfortunately, one of President Trump’s legacies seems to be the lesson that stoking racial resentments and xenophobia are effective tools for winning an election,” she said.

She went on to say Asian Americans are victims of crime due to the mentality of those shared with Blankenship. “But the consequences of that tactic are serious and stretch far beyond election day,” she added. “Already, Asian Americans are experiencing higher rates of hate crimes, and it is in large part because of the exact sentiment espoused by Mr. Blankenship.

“By using racially insensitive rhetoric to target Secretary Chao and her family in order to take cheap shots at Senator McConnell, Mr. Blankenship is perpetuating the hateful stereotype that being Chinese means you cannot also be a patriotic American.”

“That this kind of rhetoric has been used to justify persecution of Jews and Catholics, the imprisonment of innocent Japanese during World War II, and more, and should give anybody pause.”

Chu also highlighted the significance of Blankeship’s comments coinciding with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. “It’s ironic that Mr. Blankenship’s remarks come at the start of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders of all backgrounds celebrate our contributions to a country that welcomed us not for our race or religion, but because of our fidelity to the ideals of democracy and pluralism – the exact ideals which Mr. Blankenship is undermining through his bigoted attacks.”

“We must be stronger than those who use race to divide us and I hope others will join me in condemning this speech before the Trump-style campaign of division, fear, and hate becomes the norm.”