Sen. Tim Scott‘s first GOP presidential primary debate might not have had the breakout performance his campaign needed, but that doesn’t mean he’s willing to abandon his optimistic approach ahead of next week’s second debate.

The South Carolina senator told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Thursday morning he plans to maintain his happy warrior stance as he runs for president and prepares to meet with his 2024 competitors onstage at the Presidential Foundation & Institute in Simi Valley, Calif.

Several experts said fellow South Carolinian Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy overshadowed Scott’s tame debate performance last month as they two battled over differences in foreign policy. Hewitt asked the South Carolina senator if he would be “the same Tim Scott as in debate one in debate two” during his show.

“I think you’ll see the same optimistic, positive approach to debating, and I certainly hope that we have a chance to contrast on some of the issues and not have a food fight,” Scott said. “It is time for us to showcase to America why this nation can do for anyone what she’s done for me. But if we’re going to have a food fight, someone has to bring us back to the issues that are germane to the American people, and not a food fight talking about things that don’t matter to the voters.”

Scott’s comments echo a stance from his campaign manager, Jennifer Decasper, who addressed donors’ skittishness of Scott in a memo this week. “We saw a lot of ink spilled in the wake of the last debate on “who’s up,” “who’s down,” and how the entire campaign seemingly is won or lost in 90 minutes on a stage in Milwaukee,” Decasper wrote. “I’m here to tell you to ignore the noise and focus on the facts in front of us.”