Body Language Pro Makes Bold Claims About Trump & Biden's Debate

As anyone who watched the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden could see, it was clear from the get-go that the gloves were off. The words "disaster," "train wreck," and "hot mess" could all be used to describe what happened at the debate, which was roundly agreed upon by pundits as one of the worst presidential debates in modern memory. One of the reasons why the debate was so criticized had to do with how combative it was, with personal snipes and shouting matches taking the place of coherent policy discussion. As life coach and relationship expert Nicole Moore read the candidates' tone and body language, she says the two of them "were at each other's throats like kids fighting in a schoolyard.” Fox's Chris Wallace served as the debate's moderator, facing what turned out to be an impossible battle to keep the debaters on-task and the proceedings orderly. Perhaps the debate organizers might want to think about hiring SuperNanny for round two? Other people think comic and podcaster Joe Rogan should step in, since he'd at least be able to provide some interesting color commentary if the next debate turns into a cage match. As we gear up for the next debate, let's take a look at just what was going on at that first matchup, underneath the surface, behind all the yelling. Throughout the debate, Trump just talked over Biden whenever he felt like it. This verbal bulldozing, Moore says, "display[ed] that he did not care about what Biden had to say at all." At the point in the debate where Biden was attempting to present his plans for the economy, Trump was seen to "[throw] his hand in the air in a dismissive shooing away motion," one that Moore compares to a gesture we tend to use to mean "pfff...whatever!" There was one instance when Trump was responding to the moderator's question about his campaign rally events continuing during the pandemic and social distancing protocols. There was a moment when Biden appeared to want to interject something, but Trump blew him off dismissively. Rather than becoming angry or hurt by this, instead, Biden broke out laughing. He was prompted to laughter once more when Trump claimed to be okay with wearing face masks. It wasn't all grins and giggles for Biden, though. While his stance was more relaxed than Trump's throughout most of the debate, Moore notes that Biden's body language did show his frustration building toward the middle and end of the debate. At times during the debate, Biden even closed his eyes for a few seconds while appearing to sigh, an indication that the constant fighting and provocations were exhausting him. There was one striking difference between the candidates' form of address during the debate. While Moore observed that during all of the "verbal sparring" the candidates tended to face towards each other, their body language when they were facing away was particularly revealing. Trump, on the other hand, conveyed a completely different message. He could either be seen turning and gesturing toward Biden or else turning his head to the other side. While Moore interprets Biden's style of addressing the camera as indicating that he is trying to talk to the American people, Trump, instead, prefers to point a finger at Biden in a literal sense. Not only were there verbal insults on both sides, with Biden calling Trump a clown and "the worst president America has ever had," and Trump saying to Biden, "there's nothing smart about you," but their body language was also sending the same message loud and clear. Whatever happens in round two, it's safe to assume the candidates won't be linking arms, singing "Kumbaya" and agreeing to collaborate on a plan for world peace. At this point, it would be less surprising to see Trump's old pal Vince McMahon come out and announce that falls count anywhere, at which point Biden skips the small talk and tries to slam Trump through the announcers' table. Would it be pretty? No. Informative? Absolutely not. But entertaining? At least there's a high probability of that. #JoeBiden #DonaldTrump