JD Vance says 'The View' hosts were less harsh than expected

Vice President JD Vance said he was surprised by how he was treated during his appearance on "The View" this week.

Vance visited the ABC daytime talk show Tuesday to promote his new book, "Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith." Speaking later on "Gutfeld!," he said he had expected a much tougher reception.

"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 said.

He noted one exchange during a commercial break. "Joy Behar even said during the break, not joking, she said, 'You know what? You're, like, pretty good for a Republican.' And I was like, 'Whoa.' That is a way better compliment than I expected from Joy Behar," he said.

Vance also described how his expectations were upended on another point. "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," he said.

The vice president sparred with the co-hosts over several issues, including immigration policy and recent comments by President Donald Trump on inflation. He had said ahead of the appearance that he hoped for a productive exchange despite political differences.