EXCLUSIVE: "The Jim Acosta Show" heads to Capitol Hill

The House of Representatives voted Thursday to approve a bill renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” to codify an executive order from Trump to rebrand the expansive body of water. The legislation, introduced by one-time space-laser enthusiast and repeated presidential speech heckler, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-GA, was approved by all but one Republican. The bill now heads to the Senate. Rep. Don Bacon, R-NE was the sole GOP lawmaker to vote against the measure.

On Thursday, my trusty producer Matt and I traveled up to Capitol Hill to ask Republicans why they would waste their time on such a pointless piece of legislation. Most GOP lawmakers we found simply attempted to dodge the question altogether - which makes perfect sense given that the bill is nothing more than a loyalty test for Trump.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-TX did spend a few moments answering questions from this reporter. Though he questioned why I would waste my time dealing with the issue. Which happened to be the question I had just asked him. Talk about a Texas two-step.

“Why are you focusing on this?” Roy asked me.

“I’m asking you that question,” I responded.

Another GOP member of the House told us he would talk to us in two minutes. We never saw him again.

And yet another Republican representative tried to walk away from us, repeatedly saying he could not stop for an interview because he was late for lunch.

All of this makes this reporter wonder why nearly all Republicans in the House would vote for this piece of legislation. Clearly, if they were proud of the measure, they would stop to talk about it. And yet… just the opposite occurred.

As one Democratic lawmaker told me off-camera, many of his Republican colleagues consider the bill to be a “joke.”

-Jim Acosta