WATCH: NJ Senate Candidate Freezes During Debate and Has to Be Escorted Off Stage in Frightening Moment

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Republican New Jersey Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw appeared to freeze in the middle of a debate and was escorted off the stage.

During the Sunday night debate, Bashaw was speaking when he suddenly stopped. Bashaw also seemed to lose his balance as he struggled trying to speak. His opponent, Rep. Andy Kim, walked over to him and asked Bashaw if he was OK. The 63-year-old simply responded with, “Yeah,” and Kim walked back to his podium. After a few seconds of silence from both men, Kim waved someone over and Bashaw was helped off the stage. The moderator then told viewers that they would be taking a commercial break to “address some issues here on the stage.”

A spokesperson from Bashaw’s office told Newsweek that the candidate was “fine” and simply hadn’t eaten.

“He was on the campaign trail all day and didn’t get a chance to eat,” the spokesperson said. “He stepped offstage and had a protein bar and some Coke and came back to debate five minutes later.”

As the spokesperson mentioned, Bashaw returned to the stage just a few minutes later and finished the debate.

After the debate, Bashaw took to social media to thank everyone for the well wishes.

“Thank you all for the well wishes!” he said in a tweet. “I was out campaigning all day, and I never stopped to get a bite to eat. Excited to eat pizza with my fantastic volunteers at the post-debate party tonight!”

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