Tim Walz had one chance to make a first impression during Tuesday night's vice presidential debate, but he blew it before his opponent, J.D. Vance, even had a chance to speak.
The Washington, D.C.-based Democratic governor of Minnesota greeted the millions of Americans watching with wide eyes, but appeared nervous and stumbled over his words. Body language expert Chris Ulrich he told the Post.
“He was nervous coming out of the gate,” Ulrich said. “He used a lot of filler words like 'um' and 'ah', which can be off-putting.” [what you say.]”
Ulrich said Walz's poor start meant he had to regain momentum for the rest of the debate.
“The first few questions are really important because if you don't answer them strongly at the beginning of the moment, it's going to be ruined,” he said. “You're working against it now [negative impression] forever. ”
After answering the first few questions from co-hosts Norah O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan, the Democrats' nerves seemed to wear on them, and Ulrich said Walz asked the third question. He noted that by the time he answered, Mr. Waltz's rate of speech had increased significantly.
Tension energy reached a crescendo when Walz was asked about his repeated lies about being in China during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
“The question that tripped him up the most was Tiananmen… because he didn't really answer that question,” Ulrich said. “This is something we've seen him do before, where he sometimes vaguely says he's a fist-head and gets caught up in that rhetoric.”
Instead, Walz should have acknowledged that he “overexaggerated” and tackled the situation head-on, Ulrich said.
Ulrich said the Democratic nominee has since grown more confident on issues that are “in his wheelhouse,” such as abortion and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. But his late improvement was only significant if undecided voters tuned into the full debate.
Walz was ridiculed by several prominent viewers for his body language during the debate, with prominent Trump critic Meghan McCain writing on X that “Waltz is so obnoxious it's painful to watch.”
On the other side of the stage, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) appeared calm and forceful from the start, refusing to answer debate monitor Margaret Brennan's opening question about Iranian ballistic missiles, instead of answering a pre-planned question. Even though he gave a response that seemed like he was holding back, he opened with confidence. attack Israel.
“When you look at Vance, he was very calm. He delivered his message with confidence,” Ulrich said. “So what does confidence look like? It's open body language, it's these open palm gestures that he does.”
That confidence continued throughout the night, with Vance using well-timed hand movements to “help the audience absorb information and 'follow the bouncing ball,'” the body language analyst said.
Ulrich said the senator excelled in the style and speed of his answers, and even outperformed his running mate, former President Donald Trump, on a key component of exuding confidence.
“When Vance answered questions, he answered slowly and carefully. He prefaced the questions by saying he was going to answer them, and this candor was on the beat,” Ulrich said. “That way he seemed very confident and calm, which was not the case to his boss.”
But Vance showed some nervousness and an increased “blink rate” when answering questions that were out of his comfort zone during the campaign, including about his commitment to climate change and his previous comments supporting a federal abortion ban. Ulrich said.
But overall, Mr. Vance's performance was a bummer among undecided voters who responded to Mr. Trump's reactive and sometimes brash comments during his Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. It may have alleviated anxiety.
“I feel like [Vance] “We put on a clinic for Donald Trump on how to handle questions and present them coherently,” Ulrich said. “He was much more effective than his boss two weeks ago in making the case that a second term for Mr. Trump is an option for voters.”
