Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance reflected on his debate performance against his challenger, Gov. Tim Walz, during an interview with the Ruthless Podcast on Thursday. Vance admitted that while he was nervous during the debate, he ultimately knew he had done well when he saw his wife Usha’s expression afterward.
“I’m nervous as hell, right? I get nervous at these things,” Vance said candidly when asked about his experience on stage. But his confidence soared when he saw Usha’s reaction after the debate ended. “I looked at Usha’s face and I just knew, I was like, ‘Holy sh*t we must have done a very good job,’ because Usha doesn’t lie to me and her face especially doesn’t lie to me,” Vance shared. “And I knew that minute that meant we had a very good debate.”
JD Vance kept breaking the fourth wall tonight during the VP Debate. It was giving Jim Halpert from The Office vibes 🤣 pic.twitter.com/nkPutrrjCq
— DEL (@delinthecity_) October 2, 2024
The debate, which took place on CBS on Tuesday evening, was the first and only vice-presidential face-off between Vance and Walz. Vance’s focus on maintaining a calm demeanor and sticking to his strategy seemed to resonate well with his supporters, who praised his performance on social media.
One of the viral moments from the debate occurred when Vance gave a sideways glance at the television camera—a look that many viewers quickly likened to the character Jim Halpert from The Office. Vance, however, downplayed any deliberate intention behind the expression.
“I wish I could take credit for it, it’s because I guess the timer is right by the camera so I was trying to pay attention,” he explained. As Walz was speaking, Vance was simply checking the timer to ensure he was ready to speak when his turn came.
Throughout the debate, Vance noticed that his opponent, Tim Walz, seemed nervous and flustered at several moments. Rather than pounce on these vulnerabilities, Vance said he chose to hold back, invoking a strategy inspired by Sun Tzu’s famous adage: “When your enemy is making a mistake, don’t interrupt him.” He elaborated on his thought process: “I was like, ‘shut up,’ that was the mental process. I said, ‘do not say a damn thing JD, silence!'”
Vance’s sitcom-like looks at the camera with his “Do yall believe this shit?” smile is cracking me up
pic.twitter.com/rNTHY6rurO— The Georgia Conservative (@TheGAConsvtv) October 2, 2024
Vance also emphasized that his primary target during the debate was not really Tim Walz but Vice President Kamala Harris. “I was like, I really don’t have to debate Tim Walz, I really want to debate Kamala Harris,” Vance said, signaling that his focus was on scrutinizing Harris’s record during her first three years in office rather than engaging in a back-and-forth with Walz.
When asked about his outlook on the election, Vance acknowledged that there was still considerable work to be done in the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. “I’m just in those states all the time,” he said, underscoring his commitment to winning over voters in these crucial battleground areas.
