NEW YORK -- Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson brought down the house at Thursday night's Fox News/ Google debate when he joked about how his "next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration."
The joke killed among the GOP faithful. But was Johnson the first to use it?
Just today, talk radio host Rush Limbaugh delivered a similar joke on air.
"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."
So what does Limbaugh think of the similarity?
"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."
Limbaugh didn't hear the joke live because he was traveling, but said he's received many emails about it.
UPDATE: HuffPost’s Sara Kenigsberg spoke to Johnson about the joke shortly after the GOP debate ended. Johnson told her that Jim Villanucci, a former "Tonight Show" writer and current radio host on Albuquerque’s KKOB station, sent him several jokes late Thursday afternoon. "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. He didn't know about Limbaugh telling the joke earlier today.
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