You may have seen photos of President Obama being bear hugged and lifted up off the ground by one excited man. That man was Big Apple Pizza owner Scott Van Duzer, a Republican who voted for Obama in 2008 and plans to do so again in November. Since the photo went viral on the web, Van Duzer has been the target of criticism and a boycott on his establishment.
Van Duzer explained to Wolf Blitzer that the hug was absolutely spontaneous, although some people believe it was staged for media sake. “We didn’t plan it, we didn’t have no communication with the Secret Service about it or anything like that. It was just a genuine moment… it was an incredible experience,” Van Duzer explained.
Since then, Big Apple Pizza has been under attack via Yelp, where people who were not pleased by the Republican being so open to Obama. Opposers went to Yelp to give the establishment one-star reviews, while supporters fired back with five-star reviews, more on the politics than the pizza itself. Van Duzer responded with this statement:
“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, he’s our president. It was just a tremendous honor. It’s really bizarre — we were watching the convention last week and now here he is.”
Since then, the pizza shop owner has been contacted by numerous media outlets to tell his story, including Anderson Live, Inside Edition, and Good Morning America.
Showing love should never be frown upon. It’s a shame people are so petty as to boycott this man’s establishment over a hug!!! People!!! This is an election, not an execution!
Well said!!!
So here’s my take on the the hug between President Obama and Van Duzer. This is election season is nasty, but probably no worse than other elections of yesterday. Personally, I’m more engaged with elections process thanks to Facebook and Twitter so both sides are guilty of bending the facts and using a good does of ‘truthiness’. And, it probably doesn’t help that sites like TMZ and BuzzFeed are uber popular so when events like this happen everyone knows about it. It’s not just a fleeting moment – it’s news, gossip and viral political fodder all at once. BUt more importantly, this occurrence reinforces to average people that President is human just like everyone else. Unfortunately, I think the Republican side fails to realize that people like to see real people acting like real people.
C’mon, if the President of USA walked into my place of business I would have probably tried to do the same thing. If the President walks into a black salon on a Friday afternoon, I bet the same would have transpired…
Actually Naeema if he walked into a black salon on a Friday I think he would get mobbed LOL. Not to mention be taking cell phone pics all night ha.
Great post, Naeema. I especially agree about the this being another example that reinforces Obama’s humanity (the one thing that probably eats away at Right-Wingers the most).
I gotta agree with Lamar though. If Obama stepped foot in a salon he would get absolutely trampled by supporters. lol I already feel sorry for the Secret Service “Pardon me miss but would you step ba–” “Gitcho hands off’a me! This is MY President, white boy!”
What do you mean “Getting” ugly? Shoot, it has been ugly!!! As November approaches it will probably get uglier.
What he did to the president may genuinely be his personality. He looks like the kind of guy that gives great bear hugs and would do this whether or not it was the president. This is just how he showed his love and excitement for seeing the president. He shouldn’t be criticized for this. The world would be a much better place if we had more people sharing love and giving hugs.
I knew that this guy was going to get some backlash! I am originally from New York, and I was surprised when I moved to North Carolina and found out that New York is much more racist! You can be certain that somebody called him a N-word lover.