The View co-host Joy Behar offered an unexpected compliment to Vice President JD Vance following his appearance on the daytime talk show Tuesday, revealing afterward that she even suggested he consider a future run for the White House because of what she described as his “good vibe.”
The comments stood out given Behar’s long history of criticizing both Vance and the Trump administration. Yet after sitting across from the vice president during his appearance on The View, Behar appeared willing to separate her political disagreements from her personal assessment of the Republican.
Speaking with executive producer Brian Teta on the Behind the Table podcast, Behar discussed her impressions of Vance and indicated she does not view him as a fundamentally bad person, despite sharp disagreements over policy and politics.
Teta noted that Behar had made a striking comment to Vance during a commercial break.
“I’m getting a note here. You told him during the break that he should run for president because he had a good vibe,” Teta said.
Behar acknowledged making the remark while emphasizing that she remains firmly outside the Republican Party.
“I think that — even though for a Republican, mind you. I’m not a Republican,” Behar said, before referencing former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a rare exception she may have supported in the past.
While distancing herself from national Republican politics, Behar said she has fewer objections to Republicans holding local office, arguing that municipal governments sometimes benefit from a greater emphasis on discipline and management.
At the national level, however, she maintained her preference for Democratic leadership, saying she believes Democrats are generally more focused on helping the poor and assisting those in need. She contrasted that view with her belief that Republicans place greater emphasis on lowering taxes for wealthy Americans.
Still, Behar made clear that her criticisms of the Republican Party do not necessarily extend to Vance personally.
“Truthfully, as I said to you at the beginning of this conversation, I don’t think that he’s a bad guy,” she said.
Looking ahead to a potential future election cycle, Behar suggested she would find it interesting to watch Vance debate a Democrat such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a presidential contest.
According to Behar, both men possess intelligence and debating skills that could make for a compelling political matchup.
The conversation also turned lighthearted when Behar joked that President Donald Trump might become “jealous” after seeing how well the vice president got along with The View’s panel during the appearance.
Despite the positive remarks, Behar said there remained at least one issue on which she strongly disagreed with Vance. She criticized his explanation that some of his past criticism of Trump stemmed from media portrayals of the president before Vance joined the administration.
“Don’t give me that,” Behar said, arguing that Vance should have been able to form his own conclusions.
During the broadcast itself, Vance referenced the off-air exchange, joking that Behar’s assessment was probably the strongest endorsement he was likely to receive from her.
“Joy said when we were off air that I’m fine, which I think is about the best endorsement I’m gonna get out of Joy Behar,” Vance said.
“For a Republican,” Behar quickly clarified.
“Graded on a curve here at The View,” Vance responded, drawing laughs as the unusually cordial exchange came to a close.
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