Vance’s debate performance has Republicans hopeful he can shake off ‘weird’ label and kickstart campaign

The Trump-Vance campaign is hopeful the vice presidential candidate’s debate performance last night will improve his “weird” image and could kick-start the campaign for the Republican ticket, according to reports.

For months, JD Vance has struggled to shirk off 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’s 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” comment made in a 2021 interview. The disparaging comment came back to bite him, working against the Trump campaign after it was adopted by global superstar Taylor Swift and other celebrities in her endorsement of Kamala Harris.

And when on the campaign trail, his gaffes – from donut fails to over-inflated egg prices – have landed him 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” how Vance came across as “more polished” than Walz, the newspaper reported.

Vance’s relatively calm demeanor contrasted with his recent controversies, including peddling the false claims that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, have been eating their neighbors’ pets.

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 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 OK,” 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.

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.

The Trump campaign 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.

However, snap polls from both CNN and CBS revealed a virtual tie between the two candidates. The CBS poll found that 41 percent surveyed felt Walz had won, and 42 percent saw the debate as a victory for Vance.