Did Scott Brown Rip Off Conan's Santorum Joke?
BOSTON (AP) — A joke told by U.S. Sen. Scott Brown at this year's annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast was virtually identical to a joke told weeks earlier by comic Conan O'Brien.
During the political roast Sunday, Brown noted that GOP presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have Secret Service accompanying them.
Brown then noted that "in Santorum's case I think it's the first time he's actually ever used protection," an apparent reference to Santorum's conservative views on contraception.
O'Brien, who also hails from Massachusetts, made the same joke on his show three weeks earlier.
O'Brien also noted that Santorum was being accompanied by Secret Service and said "this is historic, it's the first Santorum has agreed to use any kind of protection."
Brown didn't mention O'Brien's joke.
A Brown spokesman said that funny minds think alike.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
