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FACT BRIEF

Did Eric Hovde say farmers don’t work hard?

By Tom Kertscher
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NO

Wisconsin Republican Eric Hovde did not say in a 2012 interview that farmers don’t work hard.

Hovde ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012 and is challenging U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in 2024.

A Baldwin TV ad claimed Hovde “says that farmers don’t work hard,” then shows an eight-second clip from the interview.

Discussing health care, Hovde described historical changes in U.S. occupations, saying:

“Look, we’re not having to deal with as many issues as we did in the past. We don’t engage in hard labor like we did, we don’t have as many accidents on the job, most of us now are involved in some type of white-collar profession, or even professions that are involved with manual labor. It’s much safer, much more protective. Think of farming. Look at the old physical toil that it would take on your body, now you’re largely driving around on a tractor.”

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Tammy Baldwin for Senate Pie
Google Docs Tammy Baldwin "Pie" ad closed caption
WisconsinEye Campaign 2012: Eric Hovde (R) for U.S. Senate
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.