Barack Obama Gets Bear Hug From Small Business Owner On Campaign Trail

President Barack Obama, 51, is rising to new heights on the campaign trail — literally. On Sunday, Obama stopped his Florida bus tour in the small town of Fort Pierce, where he visited Big Apple Pizza and Pasta Italian Restaurant to congratulate owner Scott Van Duzer on his activism for the cause of donating blood, and got more than he bargained for when registered Republican Van Duzer gave the President a big bear hug and lifted him a few feet off the ground.

"Look at that!" Obama exclaimed after the exuberant greeting. "Man, are you a power lifter or what?" he said. As a matter of fact, Van Duzer can reportedly bench press 350 pounds, so the 176-pound Obama provided little challenge for him, reports the New York Times.

“One of the reasons that we wanted to stop by is that Scott has been doing unbelievable work out of this pizza shop in promoting the importance of donating blood,” Obama said. “And so he has set some records here in Florida. He has received commendations from the White House, the surgeon general, he has galvanized and mobilized the local community and he’s educating kids and folks all across the country on this issue.”

Even though Van Duzer, who got permission from the Secret Service before lifting the President, is a registered Republican, he reportedly voted for Obama in 2008 and intends to do the same in November.

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