The 'Cocaine Mitch' meme was born from a 2018 political attack by West Virginia senatorial candidate Don Blankenship, who used the nickname to imply illicit connections involving Mitch McConnell’s family shipping business. Instead of distancing himself from the bizarre moniker, McConnell’s campaign famously embraced it, even tweeting a photoshopped image of the Senator in the style of the Netflix show 'Narcos.' This tactical move of 'owning the insult' turned the name into a symbol of political defiance and dark humor among his supporters and critics alike. Today, the meme is frequently used to depict McConnell as an untouchable political mastermind or to satirize the absurdity of modern American campaign rhetoric.