Rep. Aaron Schock had a swift response for critics of his “Downton Abbey”-inspired office: “Haters gonna hate.”
The 33-year-old Republican congressman from Illinois has undergone scrutiny since the Washington Post reported earlier this week that Schock’s Capitol Hill office — accented with bright red walls, a chandelier and a wall sconce — was redecorated by a designer to resemble a room featured on the PBS television show “Downton Abbey.”
While Schock at first didn’t appear willing to discuss his digs, the lawmaker spoke to ABC News Wednesday about all the attention surrounding the very red walls of his office in the Rayburn House Office Building.
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Though Schock alleged that he has never watched “Downton Abbey” and didn’t know about the particular design of his office until he “read the newspaper” himself — and that it was entirely the work of his interior decorator — he said of the curiosity surrounding the office, “I don’t know what the problem is.”
“I’ve never been an old, crusty white guy,” Schock said when asked what his constituents think of the office design.
“I’m different. I came to Congress at 27,” he added. “When I take a personal vacation, I don’t go sit on the beach. I go do active things, and so I’m also not going to live in a cave. So, when I post an Instagram photo of me with my friends, you know, as Taylor Swift said, ‘haters gonna hate.'”
Despite the “honest intrigue” about his unconventional office walls, Schock said that the color of his office shouldn’t matter.
“I think at the end of the day, regardless of what color wall you choose for your office, the most important thing as a member of Congress is what you do for your constituents and whether you do a good job,” explained the congressman.
Schock insisted that he would be the one paying the interior decorator, Annie Brahler, for her work. He explained that she decorated his office four years ago, a service that cost him “around” $6,000.
However, according to The Hill, government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics earlier this week, asking officials to investigate Schock for possibly purchasing furniture with campaign funds and accepting free work from the interior decorator.
