US politician takes on group for criticising wife

WINCHESTER, Kentucky (AP) - Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell lambasted a liberal group for criticising the Asian heritage of his wife, former Labour Secretary Elaine Chao, calling its Twitter messages "racial slurs" and "the ultimate outrage".

Mr McConnell forcefully defended Ms Chao, who was born in Taiwan and who moved to the United States as an 8-year-old with her family aboard a freight ship.

"They will not get away with attacking my wife in this campaign," Mr McConnell told about 100 home-state supporters at a Republican dinner in Winchester.

"This woman has the ear of (at) McConnellPress - she's his (hash)wife," the group Progress Kentucky tweeted on Feb 14. "May explain why your job moved to (hash)China!"