SCHMITTSHOW

MAGA Senator Bails on TV Show After Humiliating Self-Own

Eric Schmitt is trying his best to lay low.

Humiliated MAGA Sen. Eric Schmitt skipped a high-profile TV appearance just hours after his humiliating failed “gotcha” attempt.

Schmitt attempted, and failed, to get former Special Counsel Jack Smith to perjure himself during a contentious Senate hearing on Tuesday.

The Missouri Republican grilled Smith about claims he attended a basketball game in Atlanta on Feb. 3, 2024, between the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks, amid mounting drama around the Atlanta-based criminal investigation into President Donald Trump, led by prosecutor Fani Willis.

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Smith had attended a game that night, but it was a women’s game in College Park, Maryland. He watched the Maryland Terrapins women’s basketball team play the Iowa Hawkeyes, led by Caitlin Clark.

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

Since the flub, he has projected an image of someone unfettered by an honest mistake. But his last-minute schedule change suggests otherwise.

Dasha Burns, who hosts Ceasefire on C-SPAN, explained in a preview of Friday’s edition of the program that Schmitt bailed on the program a day after his botched hearing with Smith.

“Now, we should mention that Sen. Schmitt was supposed to appear on this program with Sen. [Chris] Coons [Democrat, Delaware], but he pulled out a day after that hearing,” Burns, who also works for Politico, said.

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Instead, Burns will be joined by Democratic attorney Bob Bauer and Republican attorney Ben Ginsberg to discuss legal battles surrounding voting rights and election administration, plus Democratic strategist Joel Payne and Republican strategist Doug Heye.

On Tuesday, Schmitt tried to downplay the humiliation in a CNN interview.

“We had information he was at a basketball game,” Schmitt said. “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.”

TMZ D.C. reporter Charlie Cotton also 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, 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 with 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.”

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

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