JD Vance responds to 'awkward' doughnut shop video, says he felt bad for the woman

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance talked about his viral moment with staff at a bakery in Georgia in a Tuesday interview with NBC News.

While campaigning in Georgia, Vance visited Holt's Sweet Shop and many people online ridiculed "awkward" interactions with staff, especially when one worker asked to not be filmed.

“I just felt terrible for that woman,” Vance told NBC in a story published Wednesday, referring to the bakery employee. “We walked in, and there’s 20 Secret Service agents and there’s 15 cameras, and she clearly had not been properly warned, and she was terrified, right? I just felt awful for her.”

Vance said his stops aren't "scripted events," an apparent jab to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' recent stop at a Pennsylvania Sheetz. But he did say he told his team that future visits need to be more carefully planned.

“I like to get out there and talk to people and we want to make sure we’re doing it, but definitely make sure that people are at least OK with being on camera, or we’re going to walk in and you’re going to have a person who has, practically, a panic attack because she’s got 15 cameras in her face," he said.

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Vance orders 'whatever makes sense' doughnuts in viral video

In the viral clip published by C-SPAN on Aug. 22, Vance thanks the woman behind the bakery counter for letting them visit. Soon after she tells him: "I don't want to be on film."

Vance then turns to his entourage, saying: "She doesn't wanna be on film, guys, so just cut her out of anything."

After looking at the doughnut display case, he says: "I'm JD Vance, I'm running for vice president, good to see you."

"OK," is her only response.

Vance proceeds to ask those working in the shop how long they've worked there and how long the shop has been around.

When selecting doughnuts he suggested a few flavors, and said, "whatever makes sense." The clip was widely shared on X, with users calling it "cringe."

Harris pulling ahead in polls, Georgia key battleground state

Georgia is a key battleground state, and Harris is making her first post-convention appearances there.

After winning Georgia in 2016 by more than 5 percentage points, Donald Trump lost the state in 2020 by less than 12,000 votes, a margin of 0.2%.

Harris is surging ahead of Donald Trump, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll out Thursday found. Harris leads Trump 48%-43%, an eight-point turnaround in the presidential race in late June when Trump was ahead of President Joe Biden.

Contributing: Francesca Chambers, Susan Page, Savannah Kuchar, Sudiksha Kochi

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: JD Vance explains viral donut shop visit to NBC: 'Felt awful for her'