Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume criticized Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) for a significant error made during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, where Special Counsel Jack Smith testified. Schmitt accused Smith of having a conflict of interest with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, citing purported evidence of Smith being in Atlanta on a specific date.
Schmitt claimed Smith's team had text messages indicating he was in Atlanta on February 3, 2024, the day after Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade announced their affair. Schmitt asserted that Smith had perjured himself and stated, "We’ll put it in a follow-up. You can respond. I think you’ve already perjured yourself."
However, it was revealed that Smith had attended an Iowa Hawkeyes game in Maryland, not an Atlanta Hawks game in Atlanta. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) pointed out the discrepancy during the hearing, suggesting that a confusion over team names might have led to Schmitt's mistake. "Perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully," Klobuchar said.
Schmitt's misstatement drew a reaction from Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who appeared visibly taken aback on camera. Despite the clear error, Schmitt initially refused to admit his mistake, telling TMZ, "It was not a mistake, I asked him if he was in Atlanta. The only NCAA men’s game or NBA game with a 7:30 tipoff was in Atlanta, so I asked him if he was in Atlanta that night."
Brit Hume commented on the incident, sharing a collage of a clown and a map highlighting the two different locations. "He brought this on himself and deserves the obloquy," Hume wrote, characterizing the senator's blunder as self-inflicted.