Charlie Crist: When I Hugged Obama in 2009, the GOP Didn’t Like it Because He’s Black

Crist: Race was a reason GOP panned Obama hug (The Washington Post)

Former Florida governor Charlie Crist (D) said on Tuesday that Republicans rejected his 2009 hug with President Obama in part because the president is African American.

Crist cited three reasons the hug was so devastating to his standing in the Republican Party: The fact that Obama was in Florida to talk about his stimulus plan, the president's Democratic Party affiliation and his race.

"Sadly, I think another part of it was that he was a Democrat. But not just a Democrat, an African American," Crist said on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."