Sen. Eric Schmitt’s implosion that became the story of the day in Washington was ignored entirely during his ensuing appearance on The Charlie Kirk Show.
Schmitt, of Missouri, joined the show after he embarrassed himself by desperately trying, and failing, to get former Special Counsel Jack Smith, 57, to perjure himself during a contentious Senate hearing.
Schmitt claimed he had proof Smith attended an Atlanta Hawks game, trying to paint him as cozy with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. But Smith went to no such game, as it was revealed Schmitt had mixed up the Atlanta Hawks with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Smith attended a women’s Hawkeye game in Maryland that day—not Atlanta.
Despite this, hosts of The Charlie Kirk Show plowed ahead and acted like Schmitt came out on top.
“Jack Smith is a total dirtbag, um, and you caught him out on this NBA game, too, by the way, in Atlanta,” Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet told Schmitt, as co-host Blake Neff nodded in agreement. “It was a great moment, so good for you on that.”
Later in the interview, Kolvet told Schmitt that he did “a great job” questioning Smith.
“I gotta give you some flowers,” he gushed, before rolling a clip that was conveniently edited to remove some of the confusion during Schmitt’s questioning.
When it ended, Neff and Kolvet were all smiles.
“Dang!” Kolvet exclaimed. “So you had text messages from [Jack Smith’s] team confirming that he was going to a Hawks game, and he sat there acting dumbfounded and completely clueless?”
Schmitt did not answer directly because he did not, in fact, have proof Smith was attending a Hawks game.
“It was the only NBA or NCAA men’s game going on at that time in Atlanta. He claimed later that he was at another game,” he said. “Here’s the thing: my job is to ask the questions... and if that’s what his answer is, that’s what his answer is.”
Schmitt then asserted that Smith “has lied under oath time and time again,” but did not give specifics.
Just hours before Tuesday’s hearing, Schmitt was floated as a potential running mate for JD Vance in 2028. In a brief Axios piece, he was described as “trustworthy, intelligent, articulate and a deft political operator.”
Whatever buzz there was behind Schmitt’s political future took a hit after his error and his refusal to admit it. Whether Schmitt’s handling of the mistake is something that Vance would be looking for is another story.
Kolvet has not publicly addressed how he framed Schmitt’s questioning of Smith. Turning Point USA did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, some right-wing commentators—like serial plagiarist Benny Johnson and Fox News host Sean Hannity—were caught deleting posts celebrating Schmitt for what they expected to be his big moment.
