We’re hoping that, upon realizing it, Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-Minn.) first thought was, “Ope!”
The Minnesota Democrat was in the room Tuesday when Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) humiliated himself with a self-own during former special counsel Jack Smith’s testimony, and told The Independent on Wednesday that she realized Schmitt was barreling towards a train wreck before he did.
“The minute I heard when they said Hawks and when Jack Smith said I never was at an Atlanta game, when you’re from the Midwest, the Hawks also mean the Hawkeyes,” Klobuchar told the outlet.
Smith, who has become a GOP target because of his probe into allegations of President Donald Trump’s interference in the 2020 election, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to defend himself.
During the hearing, Schmitt tried to catch Smith in potential perjury by arguing he was in Georgia on Feb. 3, 2024, to watch an Atlanta Hawks game.
Schmitt even brought what he thought was proof: screenshot texts from Smith’s staff saying he was at a “Hawks” game that day.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
Smith initially expressed confusion, but eventually remembered he had been at a game that day: the University of Iowa women’s basketball team played the Maryland Terrapins in Maryland.
“Could it then be that University of Iowa’s the Hawkeyes? Could that be it?” Klobuchar can be seen asking in footage from the hearing, referring to Iowa’s team name.
She later added: “That might be the confusion over the names of the team. But perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully.”
In the footage, Schmitt can be heard immediately chastising Klobuchar for her remarks, which makes her visibly frustrated.
“I was just going to ask some questions about Jan. 6 and everything,” Klobuchar told the Independent. “So when I started asking Smith questions, and then he said that he remembered that he was at the Maryland game because Iowa came, I knew immediately what it was, and so that’s when I explained that I believed that they were confused, and it was the Hawkeyes.”
Klobuchar also called out the hearing for the charade it was while breaking down Schmitt’s gaffe to the Independent.
“I think it does show two things: One, don’t ask a question unless you know the answer, and when a prosecutor tells you that that never happened, maybe you should start doubting your chart,” Klobuchar said. “The second thing is the whole reason they did this hearing was to distract from what is going on right now.”
As of “right now,” millions in the U.S. are currently struggling with an affordability crisis that can be tied to Trump’s unpopular war with Iran. Also, the midterm elections — which many project could be a rough outing for the GOP — are about a month away.