West Virginia Republican Senate candidate Don Blankenship is the former CEO of Massey Energy, a role that landed him in jail for a year when he was convicted of conspiring to violate federal mine safety laws leading up to the deadly 2010 explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine, John Oliver recapped on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. "And if you think he would want to steer away from any talk of what I just said in his ads, think again." In fact, he added, "if Blankenship wants to distance himself from that mine explosion, it frankly doesn't help that he talks about it all the time," blaming his incarceration on an "Obama judge" and "Obama prosecutors," and vowing to run against not just Democrats but the GOP Senate majority leader.
"He called Mitch McConnell 'Cocaine Mitch,' which is a far more badass name than this man deserves," Oliver said, and referred to McConnell's father-in-law as "a 'wealthy Chinaperson,' which on one hand is pretty racist, but on the other hand, it's also impressively gender-neutral. So maybe that should be his campaign platform: 'Don Blankenship — Bringing racism into the 21st century.'"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate brandingIn the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump lambasts crime, but his administration is cutting gun violence preventionThe Explainer The DOJ has canceled at least $500 million in public safety grants
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in ZürichThe Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
