A Republican senator's bellyflop dominated discussion of former special counsel Jack Smith's congressional testimony.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) questioned Smith about whether he had attended an Atlanta Hawks-Golden State Warriors game in Georgia the day after an affair was revealed between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and one of her lead prosecutors, suggesting some coordination between two investigations of Donald Trump.
But Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) quickly determined that Schmitt's facts were incorrect, and Smith agreed under her questioning that he had not gone to an NBA game in February 2024 — but had instead gone to see the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team play the Maryland Terrapins.
"We have confirmed that, in fact, you were right, Mr. Smith," Klobuchar said. "Iowa, the Iowa Hawkeyes played Maryland on Feb. 3d, 2024. The final score was 93-to-85. Iowa won and Caitlin Clark scored over scored 30 points, so it must have been a pretty good game."
Klobuchar went on to say that Smith deserved an apology from Schmitt, who had called him a "dirtbag" after accusing him of traveling to Atlanta to discuss the Trump prosecution there, and critics piled on the Missouri Republican long after his attempted gotcha moment fell apart.
"Jack Smith pulling up from Caitlin Clark range," admired political and media researcher Craig Harrington. "Amy Klobuchar stuffing another senator into a trashcan because he doesn't know the difference between 'Hawks' and 'Hawkeyes' is pretty great."
"What's hilarious is that this story was in Axios this morning in an attempt, I assume, to take advantage of all the positive buzz Schmitt was going to generate for exposing Smith as a fraud. And now Schmitt will never be VP," laughed Bluesky user Post Mo Thóin (Dave), linking to a two-paragraph Axios report saying "Sen. Eric Schmitt is drawing buzz as a possible Vance VP in 2028."
"The Eric Schmitt Vice Presidential Boom (September 29, 2026-September 29, 2026)," sarcastically lamented historian Kevin Kruse.
"The machinations it took to try and get Schmitt some viral clips of him humiliating Jack Smith the same day supporters got Jim VandeHei to print that he's being seen as a possible VP candidate, and then blow it because you got the facts so spectacularly wrong ... I can't. I'll be laughing all day," wheezed writer Gary Legum. "I mean, there's bad staff work and then there's whatever this is."
"They really thought they were cooking here lmao," giggled journalist Aaron Rupar, showing a photo of a poster Schmitt's team produced showing text messages he alleged proved his conspiracy theory.
"The senate staffer (or senator) who made this mistake is my new favorite person," joked writer Molly Jong-Fast.
"Please STOP blaming staff. Schmitt is the Member. He’s the last stop. He’s the final say. HE said this in a public hearing. He’s the only one who deserves blame. From a former long time Senate staffer," observed former congressional staffer Jimmy Williams.
"Like the Fauci hearing, the purpose of this seems to be getting a member of Trump's rogues gallery into a perjury trap," pointed out Semafor's David Weigel. "Schmitt's even predicting that Smith will have perjury problems before it's pointed out that his allegation was totally wrong."
"This dumb f--k accused Jack Smith of perjury just because he doesn’t know the difference between the Atlanta Hawks & the Iowa Hawkeyes. He should just quit right now," urged popular Bluesky user Grudgie the Whale.