An Ebay
auction of a Charlie Crist portrait suggests the
Republican-turned independent is gay.
The item's description puts the Florida
governor in the same group as several closeted Republicans who skated
out of office amid a gay sex scandal: “This classic work captures
the essence of Crist and will complete your portrait collection of
political heroes like Larry Craig, Jim McGreevey, Mark Foley and Bob
Allen!”
The portrait was posted by a seller
with the username “florida_gop,” but a spokeswoman for the
Florida Republican Party told the Los Angeles Times that the
portrait is not theirs.
“I just found out about that a few
minutes ago,” Katie Betta, spokeswoman for the state party, told
the paper. “That's not ours.”
The party announced Friday they would
be auctioning a portrait of Crist recently removed from the group's
headquarters.
“We intend to post our oil painting
on Monday,” she added.
The portrait has already attracted the
attention of 20 buyers who have bid up the price to $1,625 in its
opening day.
Crist, a moderate Republican, announced
Friday he would skip a Republican primary and run for the U.S. Senate
as an independent. Director Kirby Dick alleged Crist is gay in his
2009 documentary Outrage. Crist, who married Carole Rome in
2008, has denied the rumors.