J.D. Vance getting into a heated back-and-forth with reporters on social media is a good thing for the country ... so says one of the journalists who sparred with the Vice President online.

Politco's Kyle Cheney joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and told us about his interaction this week on X with Vance, who tried to call him out over a deportation case.

Kyle and J.D. were going back and forth over an immigrant who claims he was accidentally deported to a notorious El Salvador prison due to an administrative error ... and they had a spirited discussion about some of the legal aspects involved.

As Kyle explains, Vance had some of the facts wrong ... but he's applauding the Veep for correcting some of his X posts, including one where he falsely blamed the Biden Administration for an immigration judge's ruling that actually happened under Trump's first term.

We pointed out that it's new to see political leaders in Vance's position engaging with folks on social media like this -- hard to imagine former VPs like Kamala Harris, Mike Pence or Joe Biden doing the same -- and Kyle tells us why it's good for the country.

Kyle says he won the argument this time, and he's willing to engage Vance again in the future.

Catch the full interview tonight on "TMZ Live."