Aaron Schock, a Republican from the 18th District of Illinois, is already in his fourth congressional term, even though he’s only 33 years old. At a mere three years older than the youngest member of the House of Representatives, Schock goes out of his way to promote himself as youthful, active, and hip.
He even posed for a photo shoot in Men’s Health Magazine , which declared Schock “America’s Fittest Congressman.”
Apparently, Schock — the first member of congress born in the 1980s — is also, like many members of his generation, a fan of the British TV series Downton Abbey , which is aired in the United States on PBS .
But he is apparently reluctant to let the public and his constituents know that he is, it would seem, a Downton Abbey super-fan, even though Schock has been forthcoming about other areas of his life, such as his workout routine.
Why “super-fan” rather than simply “fan?” Well, the label seems appropriate for a fan who would decorate his congressional office to look just like a set from Downton Abbey .
That is what Washington Post reporter Ben Terris found when he dropped by the millennial congressman’s office on Monday. Here’s how a clearly impressed Terris described what he saw.
“Bright red walls. A gold-colored wall sconce with black candles. A Federal-style bull’s-eye mirror with an eagle perched on top. And this is just the Illinois Republican’s outer office.”
A receptionist informed Terris, “It’s actually based off of the red room in Downton Abbey .”
And then a “blonde woman” introducing herself to Terris as Annie Brahler, an interior decorator whose firm goes by the name “Euro Trash,” offered to give Terris a tour of the inner office as well.
There, Terris found, “another dramatic red room. This one with a drippy crystal chandelier, a table propped up by two eagles, a bust of Abraham Lincoln and massive arrangements of pheasant feathers.”
And that’s when Terris got a phone call from a very nervous Benjamin Cole, Aaron Schock’s communications chief.
“Are you taking pictures of the office?” an agitated Cole asked Terris. “Who told you you could do that?”
Cole told Terris he had created a “crisis.”
But Terris did, in fact, take pictures, which he soon posted on Twitter — ignoring another aide to Schock who demanded that the Post reporter delete the shots from his phone.
Rep. Schock decorated his office like a room in Downton Abbey. He doesn’t wanna talk about it http://t.co/dhDUoBMnNF pic.twitter.com/yaLV5AkDoZ
— Ben Terris (@bterris) February 3, 2015
People want more photos from Schock’s office. Here are pheasant feathers. http://t.co/dhDUoBMnNF pic.twitter.com/gu1Qc4oSFS — Ben Terris (@bterris) February 3, 2015
When Aaron Schock agreed to be interviewed by Terris, he declared the subject of his office to be off-limits. That’s when the reporter published his story about the young congressman’s Downton Abbey decor anyway.
Fwiw, I thought the office looked rad. http://t.co/dhDUoBMnNF pic.twitter.com/XKnK5yNori
— Ben Terris (@bterris) February 3, 2015
