Once upon a time, Schock's media attention was kinder, funnier

Before he was the globe-trotting, Instagramming, adventure-seeking congressman at the center of a slew of ethics allegations, Rep. Aaron Schock was just a kid in Congress.

For a glimpse of that younger, more innocent time, before he got the shock treatment of media scrutiny, we take you to a September 2009 broadcast of the National Public Radio comedy quiz show “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” — broadcast nationally but taped in Chicago.

Schock had just been elected to his first term the year before, and the 28-year-old was the youngest — and as show host Peter Sagal noted — the “hottest” freshman congressman, according to an unspecified vote.

Peter Sagal is the host of “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” on National Public Radio. | Sun-Times Library

“Well, there’s definitely worse things to be voted,” Schock said, before going on to play a segment of the show called “Not My Job,” so named because the celebrity guests (usually, like Schock, calling in) are asked questions about things they presumably should know nothing about.

Schock was asked about Woodstock, which was at the time celebrating its 40th anniversary. That Schock would not know much about it seemed a safe bet, considering his youth, and indeed he went on to miss two out of three questions.

The congressman was known for his shirtless ways even then, as Sagal asked about a photo of Schock poolside — “showing off a pretty premium-level craft-brewed six pack, if you know what we mean.”

Schock demurred, saying it had not surfaced until after he was elected.

But before that, Sagal asked about Schock’s aspirations.

“You must have, like, some sense of what your future might be. I mean, it’s only, let me think, do a little math, seven years until you can qualify to be president,” Sagal said.

“I’m flattered people say that. I’ve had people ask me that, but you know, who knows what the future holds?” Schock said. “There’s a lot of variables that play into what’s going to happen in four, six, eight, 10 years down the road.”

You can listen to the whole appearance here: