1/ THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4460: Donald Trump's questioned regarding SCOTUS vacancy and Amy Coney Barrett — Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence — — #BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert #EmotionalIntelligence #RBG #AmyConeyBarrett #DonaldTrump

2/ What follows is a nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage analysis of Donald Trump's reaction regarding Amy Coney Barrett as a possible SCOTUS nominee.

3/ Begining at 1:18 in the above video, a journalist asks, "What about Amy Coney Barrett? A lot of people think she's the frontrunner."

Trump responds, "Well — she's very highly respected, I can say that."

Journalist: "Is the nominee going to be a woman?"

4/ Trump answers, "I could see most likely it would be a woman, yeah. I think I can say that. It would be — a woman..."

5/ "...I would — ah, if somebody were to ask me now, I would say that a woman would be — in first place. Yes. The choice of a woman I would say would certainly be — ah, — appropriate."

6/ Just after Trump says, "that" (she's very highly respected, I can say that"), he turns away from the journalist & displays a classic contempt expression. This contempt was, with high probability, was directed at the journalist or someone standing adjacently, not Judge Barrett.

7/ Trump then displays a Forward Lip Purse, which signals a Clandestine plan or an Undisclosed Disagreement (partially or fully). Also note this is clustered with a prolonged blink, which amplifies the above finding.

8/ As he says, "I could see most likely it would be a woman, yeah. I think I can say that", Trump shifts his body weight back and forth from side to side on each leg as he fixates his gaze in the distance. This cluster signals thought-formulation together with anxiety.

9/ As Trump says, "Woman" ("Yeah, it would be a woman"), he closes his eyes and nods his head once quickly with moderate intensity and amplitude.

This is the exact moment Trump decided to nominate Amy Coney Barrett as Associate Justice to Supreme Court.

10/ Trump then says, "If somebody were to ask me now" — as he says the word, "ask", he closes his head and displays a Head Torque.

11/ Here, with this Head Torque, Trump is re-affirming his decision to himself — i.e., "Yep, she will help me with the gender gap in the election, it's going to be Amy Coney Barrett. That's who I'm gonna pick."

12/ Another bizarre aspect of Trump's statement ("If somebody were to ask me now") is that a journalist just *did*, in fact, just ask him that exact same thing, only 8 seconds prior.

13/ Just prior and as he says, "in first place", Trump gestures an archetypal contour of a woman's body with both of his hands.

14/ As he says, "place" and again, as he says, "Yes", Trump displays a Lip Curl. A lip curl is a nonverbal signal of:

• False Bravado
• Braggadocio
• Hubris

15/ As he says, "certainly be" ("The choice of a woman I would say would certainly be"), he straightens his back and squares his shoulder, momentarily gaining some pseudo-height. This nonverbal dynamic shows another moment of affirmation and self-confidence in his decision.

16/ SUMMARY: The body language, paralanguage, and statement behavior of Donald Trump analyzed in the above-noted video, indicates he will choose Amy Coney Barrett as his Supreme Court Nominee.

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17/ Bizarrely, Trump made his decision to choose Ms. Barrett as his SCOTUS nominee during this particular moment in the Press Scrum.

Given the fact that Amy Coney Barrett was already on his predetermined list of conservative nominees,...

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18/ Trump's decision to pick Amy Coney Barrett for the SCOTUS nominee is based on:

• Judge Barrett is a woman. Trump believes nominating a woman will help him close the gender poll gap that he suffers vs. @JoeBiden

• Donald Trump thinks Judge Barrett is physically attractive