Reacting to news that Tea Party members yelled expletives at Charlie Crist during the former governor’s book signing event in Broward County, actress Bette Midler took to to Twitter to voice her outrage at the incident.
@BetteMidler: ‘Yesterday, at book signing in Fort Lauderdale, @TeaPartiers shouted”commie whore” at @CharlieCrist and other insults.’ Wonder who paid ’em?
In an email, Crist’s deputy campaign manager Jessica Clark said that during Crist’s visit to Fort Lauderdale, a protester shouted at Crist that he was a “commie whore.” Additionally, according to Javier Manjarres of The Shark Tank, one of the protesters called out to Crist that he looked like “an AIDS victim.”
As for Midler’s question about “who paid ’em,” its unlikely the protesters were actually paid, but the Republican Party of Florida has been the driving force behind the protests at Crist’s book signing stops. However, the RPOF is distancing itself from the incident.
“The comments made by that person are disgusting, outrageous, and inappropriate,” Florida GOP communications director Susan Hepworth.
