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Tag: Mitch McConnell

  • Mitch McConnell Slammed Over "Cocaine Mitch" Shirts

    Mitch McConnell Slammed Over "Cocaine Mitch" Shirts

    Critics of the Cocaine Mitch swag didn’t appreciate the playful reference to the drug in the midst of the addiction epidemic.

    Ahead of his run for re-election in 2020, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is capitalizing on a defamatory nickname given to him by a political opponent—“Cocaine Mitch”—to raise money for his campaign.

    His campaign website is selling stickers and t-shirts depicting a faceless McConnell dusted with cocaine residue. The back of the t-shirt is labeled “CARTEL MEMBER.”

    McConnell has raised more than $30,000 from the t-shirt sales, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. Apparently the senator’s humor was not lost on some.

    “Senator McConnell proves every election cycle that having a sense of humor is the most valuable and least abundant commodity in politics,” said Josh Holmes of the Team Mitch campaign. “He managed to turn a slanderous attack on his family into an online movement of his supporters.”

    The nickname originated in a political campaign promoting Don Blankenship’s run for U.S. Senate in 2018. “One of my goals as a U.S. senator will be to ditch Cocaine Mitch,” he said in a campaign ad. “When you’re voting for me, you’re voting for the sake of the kids.”

    Blankenship, a Republican and former coal CEO from West Virginia, was referring to a cocaine bust from 2014 aboard a shipping vessel operated by the father of McConnell’s wife, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. The Nation reported at the time that the Colombian Coast Guard seized approximately 90 pounds of cocaine from the ship.

    “His father-in-law who founded and owns a large Chinese shipping company has given Mitch and his wife millions of dollars over the years,” Blankenship’s campaign explained in a statement. “The company was implicated recently in smuggling cocaine from Colombia to Europe, hidden aboard a company ship carrying foreign coal was $7 million of cocaine and that is why we’ve deemed him Cocaine Mitch.”

    While McConnell has reaped a significant profit from the bizarre nickname, Trump adviser Lynne Patton is not amused. “I think depending on what day it is, whether or not Mitch McConnell is a friend of the president, but as somebody who has personally struggled with cocaine addiction, I don’t think that that is funny or appropriate,” said Patton, a senior official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. “And I wouldn’t endorse that on any side of the aisle.”

    Patton and other critics of peddling Cocaine Mitch swag did not appreciate the playful reference to the drug in the midst of our addiction and overdose epidemic.

    “It’s almost like making drugs cool, and they’re not,” said Patton, speaking with Bold TV. “Not to sound like Nancy Reagan, but drugs are not cool, just so you know.”

    She suggested that Trump would not find the humor in it either. “The president himself, he lost his brother to alcohol addiction and he’s never had a drink in his life.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Mitch McConnell Pushes To Raise Minimum Smoking Age To 21

    Mitch McConnell Pushes To Raise Minimum Smoking Age To 21

    The Kentucky senator seeks to reduce smoking among America’s youth by barring all tobacco products, including vapes, until age 21.

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is proposing a bill that would raise the smoking age from 18 to 21. His proposal, to be introduced in May, will affect all tobacco products, including the now immensely popular vapes.

    McConnell’s home state of Kentucky is home to both a thriving tobacco industry as well as some of the highest rates of cancer in the United States. By the count of the American Cancer Society, lung cancer was responsible for about 66% of cancer deaths in Kentucky between 2012 and 2016.

    McConnell’s plan would hold retailers responsible for ensuring that all tobacco-purchasing customers are of age.

    The senator believes vaping is “the most serious threat” and hopes that raising the buying age will prevent more of these devices from being passed down to middle- and high-schoolers from their slightly older counterparts.

    Preventing teens from getting hooked early is important as almost 9 out of 10 cigarette smokers tried it before they become 18 years old, according to the CDC. Vapes seem to have exacerbated the problem, considering over 3 million high-schoolers used e-cigarettes in 2018—a 78% increase from 2017.

    “I hope my legislation will earn strong, bipartisan support in the Senate,” said McConnell. “I’m confident many of my colleagues will agree that protecting our young people from starting tobacco use at an early age can have remarkable, long-term health benefits for Kentucky and the country.”

    The bill will exclude those who serve in uniform.

    Altria, the producers of Marlboro, say they “strongly supports raising the legal age of purchase for all tobacco products.”

    McConnell’s idea isn’t novel. Twelve states have already moved to raise the smoking age to 21. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Maryland and New York are also set to enact similar laws.

    But according to one Hawaiian lawmaker, raising the age to 21 just isn’t good enough. State Representative Richard Creagan wants to eventually make it illegal for anyone under the age of 100 to get tobacco products.

    “We don’t allow people free access to opioids, for instance, or any prescription drugs. This is more lethal, more dangerous than any prescription drug, and it is more addicting, said Creagan, “We, as legislators, have a duty to do things to save people’s lives. If we don’t ban cigarettes, we are killing people.”

    View the original article at thefix.com