Picture of the Day: Charlie Crist Gets the POTUS Hug from Pizza Shop Owner

Last updated on September 16th, 2012 at 01:10 am

Former Florida Republican Governor Charlie Crist got the “presidential” treatment from fellow Republican Scott Van Duzer yesterday. The now famous “presidential” is the bear-hug Van Duzer gave President Obama that lifted the nation last Sunday.

Crist showed up just hours after expressing his desire to meet Van Duzer. When he arrived, the former-Republican-now-Independent said, “You know what I’m here for.”

Click on image to enlarge.

The inspiration hug:

Both Crist and Van Duzer have also been the targets of a vengeful Republican Party over a hug (Crist over his Obama stimulus hug and Van Duzer over his Obama bear hug), but they seem to be doing more than fine. In fact, Van Duzer reports in spite of having his small business targeted by angry conservatives, sales are up by 200% and business is “booming”.

Back in 2010 when Crist was defending himself for hugging the President, he also pointed out that he was proud that he had treated the President of the United States with respect.

Van Duzer says hugging the President “was like we were high school buddies from 25 years ago at a high school reunion. No matter all the bad, I would do the exact same thing again.”

Y’all know what to ask for if you get down to Fort Pierce, Florida. You just stop in at Big Apple Pizza and ask for the presidential.

Technically, this picture is from yesterday but it’s too good to miss, so please pardon my loose interpretation of picture of the day.

Image: The Palm Beach Post first published the image taken by Gorilla Magic, a public relations firm representing Van Duzer’s foundation.

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