GOP Senator Eric Schmitt faced widespread ridicule after confusing a women's college basketball game with an NBA match during a congressional hearing.
A high-profile Senate hearing involving former special counsel Jack Smith turned into an embarrassing moment for Republican Senator Eric Schmitt after a key claim he presented failed to hold up. Schmitt, a prominent Trump ally, questioned Smith about whether he had attended an Atlanta Hawks basketball game in February 2024 and suggested the visit could have connected him to Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis.
However, reporting showed that Smith had actually attended a University of Maryland women’s basketball game against Iowa in College Park, Maryland, on the same day. The confusion reportedly stemmed from Schmitt and his staff interpreting a reference to the “Hawks” as the Atlanta NBA team rather than the Iowa Hawkeyes.