JD Vance reveals when he felt good about his debate performance and why he looked at the camera in viral moment

Republican candidate for vice president JD Vance reacted to his debate performance in an interview on Thursday, even though he admitted he was not exactly sure how it was going at the moment.

‘I’m nervous as hell, right? I get nervous at these things,’ Vance said, reacting to his debate performance during an interview with the Ruthless Podcast.

He revealed that he knew he had done really well after he looked at his wife Usha’s face after it was all over.

’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,’ he said. ‘And I knew that minute that meant we had a very good debate.’

Vance and his challenger Gov. Tim Walz participated in the first and only vice presidential debate on Tuesday evening on CBS.

Vance revealed why he looked at the television camera at one point during the debate, a moment that went viral on social media as supporters compared it to a typical look from the character Jim Halpert from ‘The Office’ TV show.

 ‘I wish I could take credit for it, its because I guess the timer is right by the camera so I was trying to pay attention,’ he said.

As Walz was talking, Vance said he looked over at the timer to make sure he was ready to speak when it was his turn.

Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), and Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, participate in a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center

He said he realized that his opponent Tim Walz appeared nervous and flustered but he resisted seizing the moment to gain more points.

 ‘When your enemy is making a mistake, don’t interrupt him,’ he said, referring to what he called a ‘Sun Tzu’ quote.

‘I was like “shut up.” that was the mental process, I said “do not say a damn thing JD, silence!“’ he explained.

Vance said that his debate strategy was not about debating Walz but going after Vice President Kamala Harris’ record in the first three years.

‘I was like, I really don’t have to debate Tim Walz, I really want to debate Kamala Harris,’ he said.

When asked about how he felt about the election, Vance said there was still ‘a lot of 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.