Veteran newsman Jim Acosta joined as the world laughed at Sen. Eric Schmitt’s (R-Mo.) face plant on national television Tuesday, when his crafted conspiracy theory about Jack Smith and Atlanta collapsed in under four minutes.
On Wednesday, as the fallout continued, a broader discussion grew about the way news and information silos generate so much falsity. While many would feel humiliated by the moment, Schmitt and the right-wing influencers and media have tried to make it a reasonable assumption in the 24 hours that have followed. Acosta confessed he didn’t get it.
“I just don’t get why, you know, Eric Schmitt is not just, like, hiding in a cave today. “… I mean. I’ve covered Washington a long time. That is probably the most, like, epic fail, step-on-a-rake blunder I’ve ever witnessed in Washington political theater. And there’s been some bad political theater since I’ve been covering politics,” said Acosta.
“I mean, it was a real show, no question about it,” Acosta said shaking his head. “And, you know, they try to turn it upside down on conservative social media and, you know, shame on those guys on The Charlie Kirk Show.”
He agreed that it highlights a major problem with the information bubble and the way people get trapped in places where they ultimately don’t see something like this because conservative media will bury it or twist it. It made him wonder if this was something that has become so big that it may have leaked through.
“If you look at that Katie Britt video, I mean, I saw somebody on social media timed that to the ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ theme music,” he mocked.
“My concern is that what took place yesterday sort of overshadowed what should have been the central focus, which is Donald Trump very likely, according to Jack Smith, did commit crimes in trying to overturn a free and fair election in this country, for which he has never really been held accountable,” Acosta continued.
He noted that Smith made it clear that if the U.S. Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts hadn’t stepped in to save him, “Donald Trump could be in a jail cell right now, but he’s the president of the United States instead. And Jack Smith is, I think, very eloquent, articulate, and, you know, [his] perfectly pitched presentation was sort of overshadowed by, you know, Eric Schmidt making a fool out of himself. That was, I think, the only thing that is regrettable about yesterday.”
Katie Britt watching Eric Schmitt destroy his career, brought to you by Larry David.[image or embed]
— Jeremy Fassler (@jfassler.bsky.social) September 29, 2026 at 7:40 PM