Vice President JD Vance says his first appearance on ABC’s “The View” turned out to be less combative than he expected.

Vance appeared on “Gutfeld!” Tuesday night after stopping by the daytime talk show earlier in the day as part of the promotional tour for his new spiritual memoir, “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.”

Looking back on the experience, Vance said he had prepared for a much rougher reception from the show’s liberal co-hosts.

“I expected them to be absolutely vicious, and they were only a little bit vicious. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Vance told host Greg Gutfeld.

The vice president also revealed what he considered one of the most surprising moments of the visit.

“Joy Behar even said during the break, not joking, she said, ‘You know what? You’re, like, pretty good for a Republican,’” Vance recalled.

“And I was like, ‘Whoa.’ That is a way better compliment than I expected from Joy Behar.”

"Honestly Greg, I expected them to be absolutely vicious, and they were only a little bit vicious."

VP JD Vance is looking back on his recent appearance on The View and says it went better than he expected.

While appearing on @Gutfeldfox, Vance joked that "it wasn't as bad as I… pic.twitter.com/zYQG4GY9Jt

— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 17, 2026

Despite the lighter moments, Vance acknowledged there were still some tense exchanges during the broadcast.

“I thought that Sunny, the woman to my left, was going to call me a racist. In reality, it was Whoopi, the woman to my right, who called me a racist. So expectations were defied,” Vance joked.

The comment appeared to reference a heated exchange with co-host Whoopi Goldberg, who pressed Vance on allegations that the Trump administration had reduced or removed exhibits focused on Black history at various museums.

Vance disputed those claims during the discussion.

The vice president also sparred with the panel over inflation, immigration and several aspects of President Trump’s agenda, though the conversation remained largely civil compared to what many viewers expected.

Ahead of the appearance, Vance told Fox News Digital he believed it was important to engage with people even when political disagreements run deep.

“It may be the optimist in me, but I just fundamentally think that most people — not everybody, but most people — even if I disagree with them, you ought to try to have a conversation with them,” Vance said.

“We’re going to go and try to have a good conversation. I hope they meet me halfway. I’m a little skeptical, but we’ll see.”

By Vance’s own account, the encounter exceeded those expectations — even if it came with a few sharp exchanges along the way.

More over at The New York Post:

JD Vance stunned following 'The View', reveals what Joy Behar told him during commercial break https://t.co/vw9GfDIQKK pic.twitter.com/QQeUpJhUTr

— New York Post (@nypost) June 17, 2026