Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R) revealed on Thursday the reason behind his look at the camera during his debate with Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, which has since gone viral.
Throughout the CBS vice presidential debate Tuesday night, Vance was seen glancing skeptically at the camera while Walz responded to the moderators’ questions.
Many on social media suggested that the 40-year-old looked like “The Office” character Jim Halpert, who was famously known for smirking at the camera when something absurd would happen.
On his appearance on the “Ruthless Podcast” Thursday, Vance said that he was not intentionally glaring at the camera, as many on social media had suggested, but was attempting to stay aware of when it would be his turn to speak.
“This thing that has gone super viral of me kind of doing the Jim from ‘The Office’ thing, looking into the camera, it’s because — I wish I could take credit for it — but it’s because I guess the timer is right by the camera,” said Vance, per the New York Post.
“I was trying to, like, you know, pay attention to what [Walz is] saying, but then you have to be ready for, like, when his time’s up because then it’s your turn to speak. And so I was looking at the timer.”
He also expressed gratitude to those on social media who found his glances entertaining.
“It spawned a million viral memes. So, I’m glad they did it like that,” said Vance.
During the interview, he told the hosts that while he felt he was doing a good job at the debate, he was “nervous as hell.”
Vance revealed that he knew that when his wife, Usha, joined him on stage after the debate, he had been victorious.
“My wife comes out at the very end … and I look at Usha’s face, and I just knew — I was like, oh sh*t, we must have done a very good job,” he said.
“Usha doesn’t lie to me, and her face especially doesn’t lie to me, and I knew that minute that we had a very good debate.”
Vance was praised for his composed debate performance, staying cool under pressure even as the moderators appeared to gang up on him.
Besides being the inspiration of memes on social media, Vance also went viral for his response to being fact-checked by CBS moderator Margaret Brennan on immigration.
Vance pointed out that the network was not supposed to do live fact-checking and then went on to explain the immigration process with his own fact-checking before having his mic cut off, as Resist the Mainstream previously reported.
