New Jersey Republican Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw nearly faints during the debate

U.S. Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw, a Republican, appeared to freeze during his debate against Democratic Rep. Andy Kim in New Jersey on Sunday.

Bashaw, 63, and Kim, 42, are each seeking to fill the Senate seat vacated by Democrat Bob Menendez, who resigned earlier this year after being indicted in a political corruption case.

At the debate at Rider University in Lawrence Township, the GOP candidate stopped speaking midsentence during his comments on affordability and appeared to stare into space.

Kim, a two-term U.S. congresswoman who defeated Gov. Phil Murphy’s wife to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination, was the first to rush to Bashaw and check after she noticed something was wrong.

Bashaw told Kim he was fine and the Democrat returned to his podium.

The debate then took a commercial break so Bashaw could be examined. He left the room for about 10 minutes.

“I think maybe we need to take a commercial break and address some issues here on stage,” the host told the audience.

Bashaw addressed the incident as he returned to the stage.

“This issue of affordability was on my mind so much that I realized I hadn’t eaten that much today,” Bashaw said. “That’s why I appreciate your indulgence.”

After the debate, he wrote on social media: “Thank you everyone for the good wishes! I campaigned all day and never stopped to eat. I’m looking forward to eating pizza with my amazing volunteers at the post-debate party tonight!”

In a follow-up post on social media platform X, Bashaw said the pizza was secured. “Thank you everyone for your support!” he wrote.

Bashaw’s campaign also told Fox News Digital that the Republican candidate was fine and just needed something to eat.

“Curtis is fine! “He was out campaigning all day and didn’t have a chance to eat,” a campaign spokesman said. “He stepped off the stage, drank a protein bar and some Coke and came back five minutes later to debate. Even though Curtis hadn’t eaten all day, he was still able to eat Andy Kim’s lunch tonight!”