Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump quickly set the tone during Tuesday night's debate without uttering a single word.
The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates' bold handshake at the start of their showdown spoke volumes and amounted to “mind games,” a body language expert told The Washington Post.
At 9 p.m., Ms. Harris appeared confident, head up and shoulders back, and walked to the podium to meet Mr. Trump and shake his hand, to the effect that Mr. Trump appeared surprised, body language analyst Chris Ulrich told The Washington Post.
In the final debate before the 2024 election, Trump did not shake hands with his then-opponent, President Biden, although it was with a different candidate.
“I don't think he was ready for that,” he said, “or maybe it was a strategy to come up to the podium and if she shook his hand, he'd shake his hand.”
But rather than stand at center stage waiting for the former president to meet her, Harris decided to walk over to Trump instead.
“She initially stopped in the middle of the stage, and if she had stayed there and he had walked up, it would have had a much greater psychological impact,” Ulrich says, “but she went to find him and let him know she was going to fight him, right?”
“I think it was a psychological message that said, 'I'm here to engage with you,'” Ulrich said. “She sent a psychological message by reaching out first.”
Trump greeted Harris with a handshake that was noticeably softer than body language experts would suggest. Darren Stanton In an analysis by BonusCodeBets, he explains that he has used this technique on world leaders, from the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“The handshake is a sign of power and Trump likes to use it often,” he said.
Ulrich, meanwhile, said Harris likely intended the handshake to “build trust” not only with Trump but also with the American people, and that was what she seemed to focus on for much of the evening.
“The reason we shake hands with someone is to appear confident and build trust,” he says. “In general, research shows that not only are you twice as likely to be trusted when you shake hands, but you're also twice as likely to be seen as confident and calm.”
“And that's been a recurring theme for her throughout this debate, and I think that's why you see some of the gestures she makes, particularly as he throws his jabs.”
These gestures frequently included grinning and “grabbing the chin,” which Ulrich described as “a smirk and a chin grab.” [to come across] She described him as poised, smart, intelligent, inquisitive and wise – quotes that may have been deliberately used to disparage her.
“In my world, they say, 'When you grab the chin, victory is on the way.' But, 'I don't know if that's 100 percent true, but she's like, [Trump.]”
With the former president, it was his facial expressions that betrayed his true feelings: Trump's smile, for example, changed subtly throughout the night, and “it was easy to tell when he was putting on a fake smile,” Stanton said.
“When someone is trying to fake a smile or express happiness or joy, there's a key detail that lets you know it's not genuine,” he said. “The three crow's feet around the eyes are there when you're happy. Trump's crow's feet don't appear when he's asked a question, and he's trying to look like he's not upset or doesn't care.”
Trump occasionally flashed a half-smile, a look seen during the final debate on July 21 that sealed President Biden's fate in the 2024 election.
“Trump also flashes subtle looks of contempt as a gesture, a smile on only one side of the face, a bilateral smile, to show contempt or disgust,” Stanton said. “The smiles can be long-lasting or last less than a second.”
