Fact check: No evidence 'fence test' for Republicans, Democrats written by Jeff Foxworthy

Mariah Timms, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The claim: Comedian Jeff Foxworthy penned a humorous "fence test" on differences between Democratic and Republican voters.

The question of Republican versus Democrat isn't just playing out in the polls.

A Facebook post shared Oct. 27 by comedian Chonda Pierce attributed a list of eight supposedly partisan approaches to social problems to fellow comedian, "my friend Jeff Foxworthy."

But the post has circulated for years, with and without his name, and that attribution has repeatedly been debunked. The version posted on Pierce's page has been shared 12,000 times and has nearly 2,000 comments as of Nov. 13.

A viral post attributed to comedian Jeff Foxworthy has circulated since at least 2011.
A viral post attributed to comedian Jeff Foxworthy has circulated since at least 2011.

Jeff Foxworthy didn't write that

Both PolitiFact and Snopes report the attribution as inaccurate, although no one is quite sure where the text originated.

Snopes wrote in 2013 that the text "bears little resemblance" to Foxworthy's other work, and that it has circulated since at least 2011.

Foxworthy's brother Jay confirmed to Snopes that the text was not written by the comedian.

More: Fact check: Actor and comedian Tim Allen did not write viral conservative statement

Last month, PolitiFact also rechecked the text and found no further evidence it could be connected to Jeff Foxworthy himself. It also reported that in 2013, Foxworthy shared the Snopes story on his own social media to debunk it himself.

"There seems to be a post going around with my name on it. I would just like to clear the air and say it was not created by me. It is nothing close to my beliefs, and someone just slapped my name on it," Foxworthy wrote.

Pierce's Facebook page did not respond to a request for comment.

More: Fact check: Post praising Trump misattributed to entertainer Steve Harvey

Our rating: False

The text attributed to Jeff Foxworthy has no clear connection to the comedian, who has himself debunked the claim he wrote it. We rate this claim as FALSE.

Our fact-check sources

Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Face check: Jeff Foxworthy didn't write viral 'fence test' post