NBC Host: Democrats in a Panic Over How 'Likable' JD Vance Was

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Many thought that Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance won his debate with his Democratic opponent on Tuesday. Many also thought Tim Walz came off as shaky.

Of course, Republicans were more favorable to Vance, and Democrats to Walz.

But how about Democrats - who have routinely demonized Vance - who actually found him more "likable" in the debate?

According to NBC's Kristen Welker, this happened and it made many Democrats panic.

Welker said on the "Today" show on Wednesday that Democrats were texting her, very worried.

The NBC host said, “Well, look. I think that, as Peter noted, Walz got off to a shaky start. Vance knew his challenge to deal with the likability factor. He’s the second most disliked running mate in history."

She continued, "So I was getting texts from Democrats panicked, quite frankly, who said, wow, he’s really moderating himself on these issues. He’s the most likable he’s ever been. Yet, that moment at the end where Governor Walz pressed him that he accepts whether former President Trump lost the election and he said, let’s focus on the future, they will try to make that into a flash point. They’re in the process of turning that into an ad. They believe that’s a way to appeal to that very small sliver that is still undecided, but moderate, independent suburban voters."

It should be remembered that Vance and his running mate Donald Trump have been in the public doing interviews while Tim Walz and Kamala Harris have largely avoided such scrutiny.

If one cares about democracy and the democratic process, that's certainly likable, too.

Reporter Hallie Jackson followed up on Welker's remarks, criticizing Walz's performance, “Some Democrats are frustrated that he wasn’t a little bit more the Tim Walz that Kamala Harris picked to be his vice presidential nominee because he is great on television in the eyes of the campaign. I heard from Democrats and campaign officials that that January 6th moment at the end is what they were pointing to.”

Fox News' Lisa Boothe wondered in Vance's likability in the debate could help him with women and independent voters.

If you make your political opponents worried about how well you performed, that's a win in any scenario.

It's rare that a vice presidential debate has any major impact on an election.

But it's safe to say that Donald Trump was probably as happy - as Democrats were worried - about how JD Vance did on Tuesday.