Did Gary Johnson Steal a Rush Limbaugh Joke? Maybe — Let’s Let Him Explain
- Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:20am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Some of the buzz coming out of Thursday night’s GOP debate in Orlando was that Gary Johnson “stole” a joke from Rush Limbaugh. Did he? Well, sort of. But not really. Let me explain.
First, here’s what Johnson said last night:
Now that might sound familiar to fans of Rush Limbaugh. Why? Because Rush used the same joke during his radio show Thursday.
“My dogs have created more shovel-ready work than Obama has just this week alone,” Limbaugh said. “The new puppy. Honest to God. More shovel-ready work for me this week than Obama has created all two and a half years.”
Uh oh. That seems to be the same thing. And even Rush thinks so.
“I guess I’ve become show prep for the GOP debates now, too,” Limbaugh told The Huffington Post in an email. Limbaugh said he thought he used the line yesterday, “but the days run together, so I’m not really sure.”
So do we have a controversy brewing? Maybe not. HuffPo caught up with Johnson after the debate and gave him a chance to explain himself, and he does have a plausible story. Johnson told HuffPo that he received several jokes later Thursday afternoon from former “Tonight Show” writer and current radio host on Albuquerque’s KKOB station, Jim Villanucci.
“He texted me about eight one-liners that maybe I could use so it was one of those things that, ‘wow, that was really funny,” Johnson said, adding he didn’t know about Limbaugh telling the joke earlier in the day:
UPDATE:
In an appearance on Fox News Friday, Johnson explained that Villanucci actually solicited jokes from his audience as part of a contest. It seem, then, that a listener could be responsible for Johnson’s use of the joke. Watch him explain:
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Comments (118)
Lord Shell
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:21amJust good to see Gary Johnson finally get a chance to get in on the debates. I’d vote for him in a heartbeat and I vastly prefer him to Perry. Pity his chances are so slim.
Report Post »TheWholeTruth
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:28amIt‘s just sad they don’t give everyone equal time:
Report Post »Here are your statistics on the GOP Presidential Debate:
Total Talk
Romney 12:09
Perry 11:10
Huntsman 07:41
Santorum 07:06
Cain 06:23
Bachmann 06:13
Gingrich 05:44
Ron Paul 04:33
Johnson 04:10
Total 1:05:09
% of Total Talk Time
Romney 18.65%
Perry 17.14%
Huntsman 11.79%
Santorum 10.90%
Cain 9.80%
Bachmann 9.54%
Gingrich 8.80%
Ron Paul 6.98%
Johnson 6.40%
Turns Talking
Romney 15
Perry 13
Santorum 9
Huntsman 9
Bachmann 8
Gingrich 7
Cain 7
Ron Paul 6
Johnson 5
Total 79
Questions Responses Follow-ups
Perry 8 4 1
Romney 8 5 2
Bachmann 7 1 0
Gingrich 7 0 0
Cain 7 0 0
Santorum 7 1 1
Ron Paul 6 0 0
Huntsman 6 2 1
Johnson 5 0 0
Total 61 13 5
Avg Time between Talks
Johnson 14:05
Ron Paul 09:31
Cain 08:16
Gingrich 07:56
Huntsman 07:11
Bachmann 07:10
Santorum 06:43
Romney 04:46
Perry 04:37
source huntington news.
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:33am@Wholetruth
Report Post »I agree. It was like the Perry-Romney show. Why Fox keeps pushing Romney/Perry is beyond me.
There are other, better candidates.
mils
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:36amwhy would it matter?..
Report Post »..heck, kim kordashian’s wedding alone created more revenue and jobs than obama has…
Why is is a headline about Johnson’s joke…i don’t understand
DrFrost
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:05amFirst off, any of the people currently running would be infinitely preferrable to Barrack.
If your number one priority is jobs, the economy, limiting government or getting a balanced budget then Gary Johnson has BY FAR the best record of any of the candidates. He‘s the only politician I’ve ever donated money to. As for his chances, wait until the New Hampshire primary to make that call.
Ron Paul – I like Ron. He’s a strong 2nd choice for me.
Michelle Bachman – She’s made too many gaffes for me to be confident in her. Any conservative woman that runs for office is going to be given the Palin Special by the media and I‘m just not confident she’d do well under that level of pressure. I like Bachman, but I don‘t think she’d be a good choice this time around.
Newt Gingrich – Smart man. When this guy talks I pay attention. I would have no issues voting for Newt. If he doesn’t get it I hope whoever does offers him the VP position… and I hope he takes it. Another strong 2nd choice for me.
Perry and Romney – need to quit attacking each other. It’s getting old.
Perry – I like Perry. His strengths are telling it like it is. His biggest weakness, in my opinion, is that he’s too texan and he might polarize the indepents. I was born in Texas and I love Texas, but I know the media is going to label this man as Bush 3.0 and that worries me.
Romney – I think Romney did well in the debate. I think he has some good ideas. He seems a little too
Report Post »KTsayz
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:59amThose are some stats, TWT. But my favorite states are Ron Paul winning the debate @39% with Romney coming in second @ 22%. Guess we won’t see a post about that on theblaze, though.
Report Post »I’m also tired of the Romney/Perry debates, those 2 need to be separated. I really can’t stand Perry. His facial expressions are so contrived.
mikenleeds
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:38pmlooks like all of the media is helping out both Perry and mitt. when they both are clearly RHINOS
Report Post »Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:43pmRush is ok in my book for imitation it =s flattery
Report Post »Rightsofman
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:47pmSo what! It resounded. What a great line. Limbaugh should be flattered and let it go at that. He apparently has a fan in at least one Presidential candidate.
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:54pmWho is funding Johnson ? And why ?
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:58pmwhy run against Ron Paul ?
Report Post »I hope Paul runs as a 3rd party in 2012 , screw the NeoCons
Both sides work against humanity so why should I care which Party
wins if both will do EXACTLY the same thing ?
teddie888
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:43pmI’d rather hear words coming from a persons own thought process. My conclusion is that now I know what Rush thinks
Report Post »bulldawg
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 3:39pmEven if Rush said it first it was right on the money because it had more truth to it than anything a Republican or Democrat has said in the past 3 years. Sorry Rush I am having a T-shirt made with the saying.
Report Post »polidiotic
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 4:51pmDrFrost, you neglect to mention Herman Cain… Do you only vote for politicians?
Report Post »AZindependent
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:29pmLet’s see Ron Paul is third in most national polls, wins the CA straw poll (close second in IA), they cancel the TX straw poll because Paul might beat Perry, Ron Paul wins almost every online poll, etc… Yet the Blaze and other MSM (including the debates and debate coverage) still act like he is a crazy uncle not to be talked to or about. Jon Stewart, Judge Napalitano and a couple others are willing to give him the respect and credit he deserves. What a sad commentary on the American media.
Report Post »jose wasabi
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:17amWho cares? Rush doesn’t own the joke! When you repeat jokes to your friends do you really tell them who you heard it from? Get real!
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:45amA friend sent me an email with the joke after they heard it from Rush – It was funny.
I heard it last night in the debate – It was funny.
I read it again this morning in this article – It’s still funny today.
In the grand scheme of things does it really matter who said it first, who repeated it and who’s going to say it again tomorrow?
Report Post »MidWestMom
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:52am“So 3 guys walk into a bar and the bartender says…..”
Oops, can’t tell that one, someone else said it first
“A dog, a cat and a mouse got together and….”
Oops, can’t tell that one, someone else said it first
“What do you get when you cross an elephant with a…..”
Report Post »Oops, can’t tell that one, someone else said it first
D. Dada Miller
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:11amThat was my point. Rush didn’t even come up with it. Although giving credit to others is kind of nice, when you can. 6 days ago – RT @CO_AttackWatch: #attackwatch My dog just created a shovel ready job for someone. It’s piled up in my front yard. Judy | September 17 .
Report Post »jjoy
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:02pmYep… No one but fox “news” really cares that Johnson repeated one of Limbaugh’s jokes
Report Post »D. Dada Miller
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:13amBut nobody mentions that RUSH STOLE THAT JOKE FROM TWITTER. It appeared on #attackwatch days ago. Funny, no one mentions that, least of all, Rush.
Report Post »teresa2010
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:58am@D. Dada Miller.. Are you one of the those worthless liberal attack dogs??
Report Post »D. Dada Miller
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 11:13amWow. Yeah. That must be it.
Report Post »mils
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:43pmAND PLEASE…TELL US…who cares? there are better things to talk about..like the fact that people are saying Perry flubbed the last debate…or Sarah is combing her hair a different way…
Report Post »red1
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 3:55pmI saw that joke on #atackwatch also. Rush stole it first. Johnson and Rush should both give credit to that person
Report Post »BubbaT
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:08amWho cares. Family Guy proved where the jokes all come from anyway. Someone always uses them first. Very few of us are funny enough to come up with our own bits off the cuff. And Johnson looked so nervous and uptight I knew it wasn’t his own.
Report Post »rose-ellen
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:11amHuntsman is the least dangerous of all of them.Obama will be re-elected!
Report Post »angelcat
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:14amThat’s the truth. I felt sorry for Johnson. He has the personality of a rutabaga from what I could see and zero chance of getting the nomination.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:37am@rose-ellen
Report Post »Dream on, burqa butt.
teresa2010
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:52am@ROSE_ELLEN..Yeah…Dream on Burqa Butt
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:13pm9 9 9!! Herman Cain Run Herman Run!! Win Herman Win!! 9 9 9!! Herman Cain Run Herman Run!! Win Herman Win!! 9 9 9!! Herman Cain Run Herman Run!! Win Herman Win!!
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:15pm@ROSE_ELLEN..Yeah…Dream on Burqa Butt – I’m still here…..
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:17pmCareful Rose_Ellen tends to squeal to the Blaze when she doesn’t like confrontation. I had to come back several times apparently because someone did not like being confronted.
Report Post »GhostNtheMachine
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:34pmWasn’t that a ZZ Top song, Burqa-Butt Boogie?
Report Post »forcefield
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 2:13pm@rose-ellen-Chester the Molester has a better chance than Onumbnuts-lamo
Report Post »BIGGS
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:08amPerhaps Rush Limbaugh is his next door neighbor
Report Post »WTSpike
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:07amMr. Gonzo doesn’t know commons sense when he hears it. Gary Johnson was the best governor of this state (New Mexico) we’d had in a very long time, while the littany of Democratic (read: ineffective) governors here is a mile long, capped by the ultimately corrupt reign of Bill Richardson, who learned his “pay to play” politics from the Clintons. Brain damage? I hardly think so. Johnson is a fiscal conservative who understands what it means to spend the money you have rather than pile up massive long-term deficits in exchange for short-term benefit. Perhaps Mr. Gonzo would like to explain just what he feels effective governance is, since our current chief administrator has shown conclusively that he has no idea at all how to lead a nation, much less govern one.
Report Post »N8tive Texan
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:06amThe humor in any joke is the little piece of TRUTH inside !
Report Post »Dagger82
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:00pmNailed it! Smart man.
Report Post »Beto
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 7:14pmHmmm, Ah, Yes, the kerygma. :-)
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:06amIt Is probably Stolen form an Old Mexican joke.”I Get Free Health Care,Food stamps,a free education,Housing,and can vote Democrat In America for just shoveling Dog Poop,Here I just get to keep the dog poop.”
Report Post »wildwood
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:02amjohnson was just telling the truth!!!!! More than Obama can do!!
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 10:01amWho made the decision that Romney won? Both he and Perry looked like mannequins, they were so stiff, and their smiles were fake and pasted on. I‘m beginning to think that it’s only name recognition that helps those two in polls. I still like Herman.
Report Post »Freebird
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:57pmI agree completely.Herman gave the must direct answers to the questions he was asked.Thought the people’s reaction to his personal battle with cancer was the highlight of the debate.
Report Post »Blazer123
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:59amIt was a good joke, I don’t care who thought of it first. Fortunately, the ability to write original humor is pretty low on my list of things I look for in a president.
I also laughed at romney and perry talking about flip flopping, but for different reasons…
Report Post »Girard1974
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 12:17pmI agree that the ability to write humor shouldn’t be high on the list of qualities for any president – but honesty is on mine. Had Johnson heard that joke someplace else (but especially if he lifted it from Limbaugh), a little credit should have been in order. But I agree with another post that agreed Johnson looked like he was in trouble even as he was telling the joke. The fact that it was one of the highlights of the debate doesn’t bode well for this guy. At this point in the game, perception is very important. And from where I sit, Governor Johnson was about the weakest candidate on the stage. Of course he stands zero chance of winning the nomination or even surviving the first caucus.
Report Post »TMACK
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:57amIt was hilarious and even made my democrat-now-leaning-republican hubby laugh out loud!
Report Post »Jezreel
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:57amWho cares if he got the inspiration from Rush, it was one of the highlights of the whole debate.
Report Post »hempstead1944
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:47amSo what ? Do you really think Rush made this one up by himself? Funny is funny…..let it go…..
Report Post »charmingtail
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:46amso what!!! Obama does not have one thought that is his own… he has top use a telepromter to speak!
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:45amIt‘s not plagiarism if it’s phrasing a known fact. You can say it any way you want no matter who said it first. Observations are conservations and anyone in the Country can say this one.. China? – No.. Venezuela, Brazil, Oil producing Nations ? Not!! Obama has created jobs for them. Love Gary’s common sense Libertarianism.! Put him at the IRS of the Fed with Ron Paul, either or.
Report Post »gmoneytx
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:43amoh no another teleprompter, non-thinker…and he listens to Rush ta boot! I’ll bet that 15 seconds of fame was the high light of his pathetic life!
Report Post »WTSpike
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:58amWhat do you know? Pathetic life? This man built a major company from scratch and governed New Mexico quite effectively for eight years! He left New Mexico a better place than it was when he was first elected. What have you done, besides name-call?
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:39amI don‘t even know why Johnson and Barney Fife’s evil twin Jon Huntsman are even up there.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:46amThat‘s an insult to Barney Fife to compare him to obama’s china lap dog!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:47amMy apologies to Barn, he does look like him though.
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:48amMaybe because he is a successful businessman and a highly successful 2 term Governor with one of the highest approval records and straight up campaign platforms that he actually instituted? honorable? Yes! Integrity? Yes~ Mandate to pursue his platform if elected? YES! Obama? NONE~
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:54amHey Ghandi, and maybe he shouldn’t be up there because he sounds more like an Obama Democrat than a Reagan Republican!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:56amNot to mention he’s got an anemic 1% in the polls! Gary Johnson’s dogs could get that.
Report Post »Freebird
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 1:04pmAnd Eric Holder looks a lot like Howard Sprague.
Report Post »G man
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:37amFunny stuff regardless..Hey this guy climbed Everest! Not that this makes him a great canidate or anything. Just a factoid for ya.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:44amOxygen deprivation can cause brain damage, might explain a few things.
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:37amNo better go-to-guy for material than Rush. Love ya Limbaugh, and your little brudder too.
Report Post »mikevolt
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:36amIt was great and I recognized it immediately as the work of Rush. But it was appropriate for the moment and I don’t think Rush would care. The moment was just so funny because the guy is such a nurd, and to have him throw out the zingger was hillarious. I think Perry is toast. His worst night ever!!
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:36amWho cares who said it! It is STILL true!
Report Post »N37BU6
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:35amUgh… having jokes fed to you is the equivalent of copy/pasting “humour” on Facebook.
“Look gaise, I’m funneh an original uliek me nao? AHAHA”
RAAAAAAAAAAAGE
Report Post »cindy g
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:26amFunniest line of the night.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:25amI said this last night on the BLAZE. This is plagerism.
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:33amYep, he absolutely stole Limabaugh’s joke, but so what. Ron Johnson is a great Coservative Libertarian and would be a good President although his chances are slim to none.
Newt Gingrich did great last night and I can’t wait to read his new “Contract” next week.
Report Post »qpwillie
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:34amI wouldn’t call it plagiarism. I was a songwriter for many years and believe me, the same idea can come to more than one person at a time.
In this case, I don’t think the idea is to come up with the most clever line. It’s to make the point in the most effective way. If Johnson did somehow get the line from Rush, Rush should be proud to have contributed to the cause.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on September 23, 2011 at 9:40amI was joking. I am sure someone, somewhere has mouthed this joke before.
But Barry truly is a pile of dog excrement
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