CNN’s Van Jones offered a glowing review of Julián Castro’s performance in the first 2020 Democratic debate, calling out his strong answers on immigration policy and his pointed “do your homework” rebuttal to fellow Texan Beto O’Rourke.

“It was Castro that came out of nowhere,” Jones gushed. “Nobody was talking about Castro. He did the Texas takedown. Turned around, clocked Beto.”

Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio and HUD Secretary under President Barack Obama, had been polling in the low single digits prior to the debate.

“I mean, you never saw it coming. The thing about these debates, you never know who is going to have a moment. Castro is winning the Google primary right now. He went up 3,000% in terms of people searching for the guy. He bought himself a lifeline tonight and that’s why I love these debates.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.