‘Deer-in-the-headlights moment’: Sen. Eric Schmitt was mocked over his Jack Smith accusation, but MAGA media spun it as a win for the senator

A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday turned into a public dispute after Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) accused former Special Counsel Jack Smith of lying under oath. Schmitt asked whether Smith had attended an Atlanta Hawks game and met with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Smith said he had not been at that game.

The accusation did not hold up as stated. Reporting on the hearing later made clear that Schmitt had confused the Atlanta Hawks with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. 

ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl said on X, “This was bizarre. I have never seen ‘evidence’ introduced so quickly and then hidden. Senator Eric Schmitt accuses Jack Smith of perjury for denying he went to an Atlanta Hawks game in February 2024. As it turns out, he went to an Iowa Hawkeyes game (in Maryland).”

Posts circulated calling the exchange a takedown of Smith

Schmitt called Smith a “dirtbag” during the exchange and told him he was guilty of lying to the U.S. Senate. Smith and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) challenged the claim on the spot. Klobuchar said Schmitt had not gotten his “facts straight.”

Even after the team mix-up was identified in the hearing, several MAGA media figures presented Schmitt’s questioning as a successful trap. Benny Johnson wrote on X, “Senator Eric Schmidt Just CAUGHT Jack Smith perjuring himself on the stand in his testimony.”

Johnson said Smith denied any contact with Willis and denied going to an NBA game in Atlanta. Johnson then wrote that Schmitt “pulled out the receipts” and quoted Schmitt as asking, “What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warriors Hawks game the day after Willis and Wade announced their affair.” Johnson also quoted Schmitt saying, “I don’t think you know that we have this stuff, I’ll give you a second to process it,” and added that Smith was stunned.

According to Mediaite, Sean Hannity posted a similar clip of the questioning. Hannity wrote, “‘What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Hawks game?’ Sen. Eric Schmitt puts Jack Smith on the spot in the Senate Judiciary hearing.” That post was later deleted. Rich Sementa, producer of The Mark Levin Show, also posted praise of Schmitt and later deleted it.

Right-wing media outlet Overton added, “It was a deer-in-the-headlights moment.” Overton also wrote that Smith knew he was under oath in front of the entire Senate Judiciary Committee. This was later removed as well. MAGA media cast the exchange as a win for the senator, a pattern of spin that has drawn scrutiny before, as when Ted Cruz was mocked over his advice to Mamdani. 

Writer Emily Zanotti mocked the MAGA coverage of the incident. She shared Johnson’s version of the moment and wrote, “Oh man the influencer instruction emails went out BEFORE the testimony.” The account Overton described the same scene by saying Jack Smith “completely UNRAVELS as Senator Eric Schmitt pulls receipts that Smith apparently didn’t know he had.” 

Coverage of the hearing noted that Schmitt still faced an avalanche of mockery and criticism for the accusation, even as those posts framed the exchange as a win.