DOUBLE DRIBBLE

GOP Senator Confronted on ‘Embarrassing’ Flop in New Video

The Republican was put on the spot on camera.

MAGA Sen. Eric Schmitt has been confronted on camera over his “embarrassing” failed gotcha moment involving former Special Counsel Jack Smith.

During a heated Senate hearing on Tuesday, Schmitt tried to get Smith to perjure himself by attempting to place him at a basketball game.

The Missouri Republican grilled Smith about attending a basketball game in Atlanta on Feb. 3, 2024, between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks.

The question came amid mounting drama around the Atlanta-based criminal investigation into President Donald Trump, led by Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis.

Smith did attend a basketball game that day. But it was not an NBA game in Atlanta; he was actually at a women’s game more than 500 miles away in College Park, Maryland, watching the Maryland Terrapins play the Iowa Hawkeyes, led by star player Caitlin Clark.

‘CLASSIC’

Kaitlan Collins Sums Up Senator’s Faceplant With Brutal Line

William Vaillancourt

Later, TMZ D.C. reporter Charlie Cotton confronted Schmitt outside the Capitol, asking the Republican about “getting it wrong” during the hearing by mixing up the Hawks with the Hawkeyes.

Schmitt insisted, “Well, I don’t think about it that way. I asked him if he was at a basketball game that night. The only NBA game that was going on that night was in Atlanta. So, I asked him if he was there.”

Schmitt, who is seen as a potential running mate for JD Vance in the 2028 presidential election, said Smith “is not credible,” and told Cotton, “He gave his answer, and I guess that’s his answer.”

The reporter pressed Schmitt, saying it looked like he attempted a “gotcha” moment or Smith, and started to say “then you had the wrong..”

“Well, he was at a basketball game,” Schmitt continued. “I asked him if he was in Atlanta. He said, ‘No.’ He said he was at another game. That’s his answer, so it is what it is.”

SCHMITT SHOW

Humiliated GOP Goon Makes Cringe Comeback to Botched Moment

Cameron Adams

Cotton asked Schmitt “How did that mistake happen?,” with the Republican insisting, “It’s not a mistake!”

The roving TMZ reporter then asked if heads will roll over who gave him the flawed information.

“Well, no, I asked him a question, like, were you in Atlanta? He answered no,” Schmitt said. “He’s lied before, so I guess we’ll take him at his word that he wasn’t in Atlanta? I don’t know.”

Cotton continued to press Schmitt, asking if it wasn’t “an embarrassing moment” for the Republican.

RELENTLESS

‘Yelling’ MAGA Senator Schooled on CNN After Conspiracy Flop

William Vaillancourt

“No. I ask questions,” Schmitt said. “I ask questions, and we’ll see if he answers truthfully... I mean, I suppose that the Department of Justice can ask him where he was that night. I don’t know.”

Cotton pointed out that video from the Hawkeyes game, posted by MeidasTouch, shows Smith in the audience.

Play Video

“For that night? Great,” Schmitt said. “Well, then he was at the Hawkeyes game. I just asked him if he was in Atlanta.”

Schmitt attempted damage control after the embarrassing moment, posting a cringe comeback on X, “Who knew Jack Smith was a Caitlin Clark fan?”

X users added context about Schmitt’s gender mix-up.

Interviewed by CNN after the hearing, Schmitt repeated the same joke.

“We had information he was at a basketball game,” Schmitt added. “There was only one NBA game that night, at 7:30 tip-off, which is why I asked him if he was in Atlanta.”

“He answered the question. That’s what these hearings are for. You ask questions, you get answers.”

Schmitt added, “Smith has perjured himself before, but he says he’s at the game. Maybe he’s a Caitlin Clark fan. We’ll accept that.”

Clark has become part of a racially charged MAGA culture war, despite condemning racist and misogynistic comments.

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Cameron AdamsReporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.