A New Jersey Republican Senate candidate had a frightening moment during a debate on Sunday as it appeared that he was going to pass out.
The debate was between Curtis Bashaw and Democratic state Rep. Andy Kim. They are competing for Democratic State Senator Bob Menendez, who was forced to resign after being indicted for political corruption, as Resist the Mainstream previously reported.
The 63-year-old stopped mid-sentence on stage while discussing affordability. He appeared to freeze and was nonresponsive, Fox News Digital reports.
Noticing his opponent’s distress, the 42-year-old two-time congressman was the first to check on Bashaw, who reassured him that he was okay.
The moderator told the audience that a commercial break was needed to “address some issues here on the stage,” allowing Bashaw to regroup for about 10 minutes.
When Bashaw returned to the stage, he addressed the audience about the incident.
“I got so worked up about this affordability issue that I realized I hadn’t eaten so much food today,” said Bashaw. “So I appreciate your indulgence.”
The moment caused a lot of social media users to worry about the candidate and praised Kim for his kind gesture.
“Wow. Hope Curtis Bashaw is OK,” one X user wrote. “This was a truly frightening moment. A good reminder that we’re all people. Took his handlers 20 seconds to step in though. Andy Kim attempted to help first.”
“Hope Curtis Bashaw is okay. Hopefully it was just dehydration or exhaustion,” another user wrote.
“This is horrible. I know people who have experienced this in real life. I hope @CurtisBashaw is better now. Kudos to @AndyKimNJ for caring about his opponent, despite disagreements. He has truly just earned my respect,” another wrote.
Following the debate, Bashaw addressed the issue on X and thanked everyone for their concern.
“Thank you all for the well wishes! I was out campaigning all day, and I never stopped to get a bite to eat,” he wrote. “Excited to eat pizza with my fantastic volunteers at the post-debate party tonight!”
In a follow-up post, Bashaw shared a photo of himself holding a pizza and thanked everyone for their support.
The Bashaw campaign shared a statement with Fox News Digital reassuring that their candidate was okay.
“Curtis is fine! He was on the campaign trail all day and didn’t get a chance to eat,” a campaign spokesperson told the outlet. “He stepped off-stage and had a protein bar and some Coke and came back to debate five minutes later. Even having not eaten all day, Curtis was still able to eat Andy Kim’s lunch tonight!”
