Vice President Kamala Harris successfully coaxed former President Trump into a flurry of conversations during Tuesday's presidential debate on ABC, leaving him angry and confused, according to body language expert Susan Constantine.
Tuesday's debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the first time Trump and Harris shared the debate stage, with commentators saying that while Trump performed better, it was a good night for Harris.
That's in part because Ms Harris provoked a response from Mr Trump, whose frustration and anger grew as the night went on.
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Vice President Kamala Harris managed to confuse former President Trump during Tuesday's ABC presidential debate, according to body language expert Susan Constantine. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Constantine told Fox News Digital that Harris was aware of Trump's weaknesses, such as questioning the attendance figures at his rallies, but when she brought them up, Trump responded defiantly, to his own detriment.
“He fell for all of her tricks. It was all tactics,” Constantine says. “So she poked the bear, and he growled back, and she kept poking the bear, especially when it came to the crowds, of course.”
Ms Harris said people at Mr Trump's rallies often leave early out of fatigue and boredom, but Mr Trump countered that his rallies draw record numbers, while Ms Harris buses people to them and pays for them to attend.
“She knew every single one of his weaknesses, but instead of answering questions, he tried to defend them and stay on task. He spent most of his time hitting the ball back to her and defending himself, which was not a good approach,” Constantine said.
“You could see that Trump was really upset. At one point, his shoulders slumped, his head bowed, he was sunken. And you could see his upper lip. [move upward] He immediately exploded in anger. It was a tiny expression of hatred and disgust and contempt… He was really angry that she had said that.”
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Former President Trump speaks during Tuesday's ABC presidential debate. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Constantine said Trump had reason to be angry because Harris made many insulting comments and was unable to regain control of the debate after being provoked by her, and that Harris' smile reflected Trump's awareness of how he had pushed the former president into a corner.
“You see his anger, you see the inflection of his voice, the pursing of his eyebrows, the tight-lipped look. He was angry. You could actually hear a lot in his voice,” she explains. “His lips were tight a lot of the time. He was bottling up a lot of his emotions towards her, which was anger. And that was just fuel for Harris, because she knew she'd caught him, so she would see his smile all the time. And every time she caught him… she'd reward herself with a big, permanent smile.”
Ms. Harris' smiles were often unnatural and unusually long, according to Mr. Constantine, who said she also smiled to rile up Mr. Trump and as a fallback when she disagreed with something he said.
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“A real smile lasts at most four seconds. If you hold that smile for too long, it's condescending. She's ignoring Trump's comments, [that] “She has a smile on her face all the time, and it's not real,” Constantine explains. “If she wants to make light of something Trump says, she can either keep smiling or laugh at the comment itself.”
Constantine said there were clear differences between the candidates: Trump had a more serious tone and Harris seemed happier.
Initially, Harris frequently kicked her head back and almost tilted her head up, which Constantine described as a “posture of superiority” – she had her nose up and her arms crossed in an appraising manner.
“It was condescending and arrogant. It was not nice behaviour,” Constantine said.
Constantine said Harris was very descriptive with her hand movements, looked straight into the camera and knew exactly how to express her gestures.
“She spoke to the American people. She played the perfect card musically in a lot of ways. So I think she got a lot of guidance.”
Constantine said Harris stuttered and lost her rhythm when asked whether she supported restrictions on women's abortion rights.
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Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris shook hands ahead of Tuesday's ABC presidential debate. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
“She avoided the question because she really couldn't answer,” she explains, “so she lowered her eyes and started doing the bobblehead thing. And it was a total lie.”
Constantine also noted that Vice President Harris moved into Trump's space to chat with him, and praised the pre-debate handshake.
“She paused for a minute, seemed to hesitate a little bit, then she went on the attack, so I'll give her one for that,” Constantine said. “The whole thing was a boxing match. Of course, they were complete opposites. There was no love there.” [the] And I think Harris used that to her advantage and Donald Trump fell into a trap.”
