Members of Congress upset about TMZ’s decision to swarm the U.S. Capitol have Sen. Lindsey Graham to thank.
TMZ is known for documenting the foibles and faux pas of celebrities and athletes, often with viral photos and videos.
Jacob Wasserman and Charlie Cotton, co-managing editors for TMZ-DC, said they decided to launch the Capitol Hill-focused news site after seeing a photo of Mr. Graham holding a Little Mermaid bubble wand at Walt Disney World during the government shutdown.
TMZ had begun a campaign to have the public send in photos of what Washington power brokers were doing while some federal workers were furloughed and others, such as Transportation Security Administration agents, were working while not getting paid.
And it was the photo of Mr. Graham holding a Little Mermaid Bubble Wand that convinced Mr. Cotton and Mr. Wasserman that Washington needed them.
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“I think this is the time TMZ really gets our feet wet and gets political, so we moved here — it wasn’t on a whim, we have been being political at TMZ for a while now. But to start this DC TMZ bureau, the catalyst was the bubble wand,” Mr. Cotton told “Seen, Heard & Whispered.”
TMZ caught up with Mr. Graham, South Carolina Republican, to get his response to the public’s reaction to the photo.
“Enjoyed Disney World. Got to work and try to have a life, too,” Mr. Graham told them. “Next week will be a good trip across South Carolina.”
The bubble wand wasn’t for him, he added. It was for a friend’s daughter.
Mr. Cotton called it a respectful interaction, which he said is the goal of TMZ, an outlet famous for sticking camera phones in the faces of celebrities and asking them about their more embarrassing moments.
Mr. Cotton said politicians already expect encounters with the press, so they’re not surprised by TMZ.
“The public, as well as the person we are interviewing, is down for a harder chat than, say, a celebrity is on a trip coming through LAX,” he said. “The public kind of wants you to hold them accountable. The politicians themselves understand that.”
TMZ’s goal is to provide transparency and accountability, with a bit of fun mixed in with the hard questions. It also wants to give lawmakers — since there are more than 500 members of Congress — more airtime and exposure for voters to get to know them.
A little more than a month into the experiment, Mr. Wasserman noted an interaction with Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee Republican, whom he describes as a favorite to interview.
“We love a chatterbox, who doesn’t?” Mr. Wasserman said. “You could really talk to him all day about anything you want, so I love speaking with him.”
He said younger Democrats “like to play ball a little bit more” than the oldsters, adding that he is a fan of Rep. Shomari C. Figures, a 40-year-old Alabama Democrat.
“He’s a really charismatic, fun guy to talk to,” he said. “Of course, AOC [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] has been very kind.”
For the most part, TMZ-DC says politicians are getting along with them — and even engaging in some of the camera ambushes.
Mr. Cotton said he can shout across a room to a Republican or Democratic member, and they’ll wave and shout back hello.
“We’re homies with these people now,” Mr. Cotton said. “They have good intentions even if it is hard to see that all the time.”
