Obama Lifted Off The Ground with Bear Hug

It was a big bear hug for President Obama on the campaign trail. The president was actually lifted off the floor by the owner of a pizza parlor.

The pizza guy, Scott Van Duzer is 6' 3", weighs 260 pounds and had no problem lifting the 6' 1", 176-pound president.

He told INSIDE EDITION he can bench-press 350 pounds.

"I can bench two Obamas. How about that," joked Van Duzer.

The bear hug happened during a surprise visit by the president to the Big Apple Pizza and Pasta restaurant in Fort Pierce in the battleground state of Florida.

Van Duzer is a registered Republican, but voted for Obama in 2008 and plans to do it again this November.

"They're joking around [that it's] the hug heard around the world. It's pretty wild," said Van Duzer.
 
Now, some are questioning why the Secret Service just stood by while the bear hug took place.

"The secret service allows this?" asks The New York Times.  

But the pizza guy says a Secret Service agent gave him the okay before he made the big lift.

Van Duzer said, "I wasn't going anywhere with him. It was just a genuine gesture of "Wow" and then I put him right back down and we went about our business."

It seems that the 2012 campaign is getting very physical.