As with multiple other Republican presidential candidates, during this past weekend, Donald Trump made an appearance at the Iowa State Fair. What follows is a brief analysis of one short but crucial nonverbal behavior displayed by Donald Trump.
Unlike many of my body language analyses, this particular behavior example needs no body language expertise to suss it out — but it does require careful observation.
Beginning at the 1:17 mark in the above video, Donald Trump is seen in profile standing, backlit, adjacent to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R, CD-01, FL) as Gaetz is speaking. While the resolution is low, we can clearly see that this is, in fact, Donald Trump.
Trump can be see nodding his head (a universal signal of affirmation) accompanying several of Gaetz’s statements — and one of these is of particular note:
Beginning at 1:33, Gaetz says, “… but we know that only through force can we make any change in a corrupt town like Washington D.C.”
Note Gaetz’s highest vocal emphasis on the words: “only” and “force”.
At the end of his declaration, as Gaetz says, “… Washington D.C.”, Trump can be seen nodding his head up and down — displaying the universal signal for agreement (during 1:39–1:40).
Please watch this video, as the dynamic nature of this behavior is impossible to see on an image.
Keep in mind that this is an individual who’s awaiting trial for, in part, inciting a violent insurrection — an allegation Trump repeatedly denies — and yet here he nods in agreement while Gaetz openly advocates violence and commits a blatant act of stochastic terrorism.
SUMMARY: Donald Trump’s Body Language behavior while Matt Gaetz says, “…only through force can we make any change in a corrupt town like Washington D.C.” is a clear indication that *Trump believes* violence is a viable method to effect change in the United States.
All individuals, businesses, and organizations who want to (need to) dramatically improve their Body Language skills and nuance their understanding of Emotional Intelligence, please email me at: Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com
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This post and others accompanying it, serve as a reference source for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the author. In an effort to be both practical and academic, many examples from/of varied cultures, politicians, professional athletes, legal cases, public figures, etc., are cited in order to teach and illustrate both the interpretation of others’ body language as well as the projection of one’s own nonverbal skills in many different contexts.
