Republicans are hopeful Vance’s debate performance has helped shake off ‘weird’ label

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Republicans are hoping JD Vance’s performance in the vice presidential debate has helped to shake off his “weird” image and kick-start the campaign for the Republican ticket, according to reports.

For months, Vance has struggled to break free from the “weird” label given to him by his Democratic opponent Tim Walz early on in the 2024 presidential campaign.

But last night could mark a turning point.

Trump campaign aides believe Vance “reset the narrative over his image” and “came across in a more favorable light” in the debate, according to The Guardian.

Throughout the campaign, the Ohio senator has been relentlessly mocked for his “childless cat ladies” comments made in a 2021 interview. The disparaging remarks came back to bite him, working against the Trump campaign after it was adopted by global superstar Taylor Swift and other celebrities in their endorsement of Kamala Harris.

There’s also been other controversies, including peddling false claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been eating their neighbors’ pets.

And gaffes on the campaign trail – from donut fails to over-inflated egg prices – have also landed him with negative headlines.

However, in stark contrast to the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on September 10, the temperature of last night’s debate was much cooler and the personal insults, from both candidates, were left on the sidelines.

And unlike Trump, Vance managed to stay on message.

As a result, Trump’s aides were reportedly “relieved” that Vance came across as “more polished” than Walz, The Guardian reported.

Critics noticed how he appeared to have “softened his image” and displayed a rare “human moment” when responding to Walz’s revelation his son had witnessed a mass shooting.

“Tim, first of all, I didn’t know that your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting, and I’m sorry about that and I hope he’s doing okay,” he said. “Christ have mercy, it is awful.”

While Vance’s performance was far from perfect, his aides suggested after the debate that Walz’s slip-ups were big enough distractions from the Republican’s own mistakes.

The Trump campaign quickly claimed victory as soon as the debate was over.

“Senator Vance unequivocally won tonight’s debate in dominating fashion. It was the best debate performance from any Vice-Presidential candidate in history,” co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement.

In a damning assessment of Walz’s debate performance, Vance’s aide Andrew Surabian claimed that House GOP Whip Tom Emmer was “more impressive” when he played the governor during debate prep.

“Having been at JD’s debate prep, Tom Emmer was much more impressive playing Tim Walz than Tim Walz turned out to be himself,” he told Fox News.

Despite the inflated confidence, snap polls from both CNN and CBS News revealed a virtual tie between the two candidates in terms of who won the debate. The CBS poll found that 41 percent surveyed felt Walz had won, while 42 percent saw the debate as a victory for Vance.