Florida pizza shop owner Scott Van Duzer lifted President Barack Obama a solid foot off the ground in a bear hug during an unscripted stop at his Fort Pierce, Fla., store. Literally.
So what did the Secret Service think about Van Duzer — a registered Republican who says he’ll vote for Obama in November — hoisting the president? ”He said I was all right as long as I didn’t take him away,” Van Duzer told reporters. Obama, wrapping up a two-day bus tour through Florida, dropped by the Big Apple Pizza & Pasta Restaurant for the kind of unannounced visit that breathes life into sometimes dreary campaign travel.
“Scott, what’s going on, man,” the president called as he arrived. “Let me tell you, you are like the biggest pizza shop owner I’ve ever seen.” ”The two men laughed. They embraced. Van Duzer lifed Potus a good foot off the ground,” according to the pool filed by Politico’s Reid Epstein.
The pizza store he founded 16 years ago is the only place he’s ever worked. And he has received commendations from the surgeon general’s office for his work in encouraging blood donations. (Does he “encourage” with hugs?)
Van Duzer said he got 40-minutes’ notice that the president was coming — and raced to his shop from the driving range. He told the pool that he is a “big political person” (Big. Yes.) and was “just overcome with excitement” — which led to the hug. ”I don’t vote party line, I vote who I feel comfortable with, and I do feel extremely comfortable with him,” said Van Duzer, who also voted for Obama in 2008.
If you were in the same situation as Scott Van Duzer, would you have done the same? Are you pro-Obama?
Image: Today’s News



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