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Video people are talking about 5.3x its usual comments

An Atlanta Hawks question for Jack Smith fills The Damage Report's comment section

Senator Eric Schmitt's basketball-game line of questioning drew an ordinary crowd to John Iadarola's show, but more than five times the usual number of comments.

Channel: The Damage ReportStory of Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video drew 693 comments in its first day, 5.3 times a normal first day on this channel (131).

GOP Senator PANICS After Getting Fact-Checked To His FaceGOP Senator PANICS After Getting Fact-Checked To His Face

John Iadarola and Sharon Reed took on a strange moment from Capitol Hill: Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri questioning former special counsel Jack Smith about a basketball game.

According to the video's description, Schmitt asked Smith whether he had attended a February 2024 NBA game in Atlanta between the Hawks and the Golden State Warriors. The question seemed to be building toward a link between Smith and others who prosecuted Donald Trump. The description says the line of questioning came apart when the senator apparently confused two basketball teams.

The views stayed in the channel's normal range, about 125,000 in the first day. The comments did not. They arrived more than five times faster than on a usual first day for one of the show's regular videos.

Much of the talk is about the evidence itself. Several viewers point out that the texts shown at the hearing never mention Atlanta or the Hawks. Others ask whether senators should face consequences when what they say at a hearing turns out to be wrong. One viewer says they have now seen the same exchange on channel after channel.

The show went back to the hearing two days later with a second video on the same collapse.

Published on Trari

The facts
Subscribers
1,380,000
Channel views, pace per day
422,382 (on a normal day: 1,306,774)
Video published
September 30, 2026
Video views so far
143,026 (2 days online)
Video views, pace per day
73,903

The numbers

The views were close to normal for The Damage Report. The comment section was the busy part.

comments on the video's first day
usual first day here
131
this video
693
subscribers
1,380,000
total views
1,656,173,233
views per day
422,382
typical day: 1,306,774
the video
views
143,026
likes
3,883
comments
763
days online
2
compared with similar channels (subscribers)
friendlyjordies
1,430,000
Stephen A. Smith
1,410,000
The Damage Report
1,380,000
The Ring of Fire
1,360,000
Keith Edwards
1,350,000
Trish Regan
1,340,000
As of October 2, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube
Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.
Developed with YouTube

💡 Test your knowledge

The Atlanta Hawks, the team at the center of the senator's question, play their home games in which arena?

Where next?

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