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    Tobacco's 'Special Friend': What Internal Documents Say About Mitch McConnell

    The Senate majority leader wants to raise the age for tobacco sales to 21. An NPR review of once-secret documents shows how closely McConnell has worked with the industry over decades.
    by Tom Dreisbach Jun 17, 2019 11 minutes
    The disclosure of millions of once-secret tobacco industry documents — which are now readily searchable online — has opened a window into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's interactions with tobacco executives and lobbyists.

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., says one of his "highest priorities" is to take on the leading cause of preventable death in the United States: smoking.

    McConnell has sponsored a bill, along with Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, that would increase the tobacco purchase age from 18 to 21.

    In a speech on the Senate floor last month, McConnell said, "The sad reality is that Kentucky has been the home to the highest rates of cancer in the country. We lead the entire nation in the percentage of cancer cases tied directly to smoking."

    Indeed, nearly 9,000 Kentuckians die every year from smoking — roughly 24 people every day. Kentucky also spends $1.9 billion on smoking-related health problems like lung cancer, strokes and premature birth.

    "Our state once grew tobacco like none other," said McConnell. "And now we're being hit by the health consequences of tobacco use like none other."

    Still, McConnell noted, "I might seem like an unusual candidate to lead this charge."

    For many public health advocates, that was a vast understatement.

    Following the industry's lead

    An NPR review of McConnell's relationship with the tobacco industry over the decades has found that McConnell repeatedly cast doubt on the health consequences of smoking, repeated industry talking points word-for-word, attacked federal regulators at the industry's request and opposed bipartisan tobacco regulations going back decades.

    The industry, in turn, has provided McConnell with millions of dollars in speaking fees, personal gifts, campaign contributions and charitable donations to the McConnell Center, which is home to his personal and professional archives.

    One lobbyist for R.J. Reynolds called McConnell a "special friend" to the company.

    Much of the relationship between McConnell and the tobacco industry happened behind the scenes. But the disclosure of millions of once-secret tobacco industry documents — which are now — has opened a window into McConnell's

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