US Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw, a Republican, appeared to freeze on Sunday during his debate against Democrat Rep. Andy Kim in New Jersey.
Bashaw, 63, and Kim, 42, are each looking to fill the Senate seat vacated by Democrat Bob Menendez, who resigned earlier this year following his indictment in a political corruption case.
At the debate at Rider University in Lawrence Township, the GOP candidate stopped speaking mid-sentence during his comments about affordability and appeared to look off into space.
Kim, a two-term US congressman who defeated Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination, was the first to rush over and check on Bashaw after noticing something was wrong.
Bashaw told Kim he was all right, and the Democrat returned to his podium.
The debate then took a commercial break so Bashaw could be checked on. He left the room for about 10 minutes.
“I think maybe we need to take a commercial break and address some issues here on the stage,” the moderator told the audience.
Bashaw addressed the incident when he returned to the stage.
“I got so worked up about this affordability issue that I realized I hadn’t eaten so much food today,” Bashaw said. “So I appreciate your indulgence.”
He wrote on social media after the debate: “Thank you all for the well wishes! I was out campaigning all day, and I never stopped to get a bite to eat. Excited to eat pizza with my fantastic volunteers at the post-debate party tonight!”
In a follow-up post on the social media platform X, Bashaw said the pizza was secured. “Thanks for your support, everyone!” he wrote.
Bashaw’s campaign also told Fox News Digital that the Republican candidate was okay and just needed some food.
“Curtis is fine! He was on the campaign trail all day and didn’t get a chance to eat,” a campaign spokesperson said. “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!”