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Michael Rovito

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Student

The Resume

    (1980- )
    Resided in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
    Temple University graduate student
    Received media attention after encountering then-Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin at a Tony Luke’s in Philadelphia
    Clip of him grilling Palin about 'the Pakistan situation' while in line went viral after she appeared to endorse a position supported by Barack Obama (Sept. 28, 2008)
    Coverage of the interaction appeared on CNN, The Huffington Post, Philly.com, and CBS News

Why he might be annoying:

    He was accused of audaciously politicizing a cheesesteak diner-campaign stop with 'gotcha questions.'
    He shared a name with a Wasilla-based reporter for the Alaska newspaper The Frontiersman, which led some to conclude that he had asked the question of Palin with a specific 'axe to grind.'
    Palin later summed the exchange up during the infamous Katie Couric interview as 'in the context, this was a voter, a constituent, hollering out a question from across an area asking, What are you gonna do about Pakistan? You better have an answer to Pakistan ... That this is all about gotcha journalism. A lot of it is.'
    He later told The Hill: 'It’s just ridiculous how they’re saying I was hollering. [She was] maybe three feet in front of me, four feet maybe. She heard me.'
    He later said in a CNN interview: 'I don't even know what [gotcha journalist] means, but I am not a journalist, I'm just a tax-paying citizen. And if we cannot ask a question of our veep and presidential candidates, and if we do, we get scorned for being a gotcha journalist -- again, I don't know what that means but … it's almost like tyrannical in a way' (then he's gotta LOVE the current White House occupant). In a separate interview, he repeatedly referred to Palin as 'clueless.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was an active leader with Young Democrat groups throughout college.
    He was lauded by media outlets for asking tough questions of a candidate many in the press didn't bother to ask.
    He had allegedly stopped at the Tony Luke's on the way back from a Philadelphia Eagles Homecoming game, not anticipating that it would be a campaign stop.
    He later became an Assistant Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Central Florida.
    He holds a Ph.D. in Public Health and a Masters in Urban Studies from Temple University.
    When he was asked who he would like to play him on SNL if it ever happened, he answered: 'Andy Samberg of course!'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 19 Votes: 89.47% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 28 Votes: 39.29% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 59 Votes: 52.54% Annoying