Nonverbal Communication Analysis №3840: Donald Trump regarding Vladimir Putin: ‘We’ve Got A Lot of Killers. Do You Think Our Country Is So Innocent?’ (Super Bowl Interview) — Body Language and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
Certainly one of the most controversial statement he’s ever made since becoming President was spoken by Donald Trump during his “Super Bowl LI Interview”. What follows is a nonverbal evaluation of that crucial segment.
Beginning at 2:15, Bill O’Reilly continues: “Do you respect Putin?”
Donald Trump: “I do respect him. I -”
O’Reilly: [over-talking] “Do you? Why?”
Trump: “Well, I respect a lot of people. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to get along with him. He’s — a leader of his country. Ah, I say it’s better to get along with Russian than not. And if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS — which is a major fight — and Islamic — terrorism all over the World.”
O’Reilly [over-talking]: “Right.”
Trump: “Major fight — that’s a good thing. Will I get along with him? I have no idea. It’s very possible I won’t.”
O’Reilly: [over-talking] “But he’s a killer though. Putin’s a killer.”
Trump: “[Th]’ere a lotta killers. [We] gotta lot of killers. Whatta you think our country’s so innocent?
Do you think our country’s so innocent?”
O’Reilly: “I don’t know of any government leaders that are killers anywhere — “
Trump [over-talking]: “Wellll — Take a look at what we’ve done too. [We]’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’ve been against the War in Iraq from the beginning -”
O’Reilly [over-talking]: “Yeah, but mistakes are different than — “
Trump: [over-talking]: “… A lotta mistakes. It’s okay — but a lot of people were killed — so lotta -”
O’Reilly [over-talking]: “Alright.”
Trump: “killers around, believe me.”
As the President says, “Major fight — that’s a good thing. Will I get along with him? I have no idea. It’s very possible I won’t.” During 2:39 -2:40 he displays a nonverbal sign known as a “Head Torque”.
A few seconds later (2:44) as Mr. Trump says, “[Th]’ere a lotta killers. [We] gotta lot of killers. Whatta you think our country’s so innocent? — he exhibits another head torque.
A head torque is composed of a combination of twisting (rotating) motion of the head and neck along with a forward thrusting. A head torque indicates an adamant and determined emotional mindset. It’s a high alpha (even hyper-alpha) signal — thus those whom display it feel, that at least with respect to their audience (and here the audience is in the hundreds of millions, perhaps a billion people), they are the “Alpha” and everyone else is “Beta”.
Note that the President uses the head torque twice in 5 seconds. Most people who use alpha and hyper-alpha signals tend to over-use them. This is a mistake — such over-use is off-putting (e.g., a rapport destroyer) to everyone except those people who are already strong believers/backers in the person or the opinion/idea/plan being expressed (and off course the same principle would hold true for anyone, not just Mr. Trump).
The head torque is their body language saying, “I’m going to do/say/think what I want and I don’t care what you think”. Whenever you see a head torque, the person projecting it has their mind made-up — they cannot be “reasoned with”.
Summary: In this context, Donald Trump’s head torque signals his defense of Vladimir Putin. Trump is adamant of his sentiment of, “Do you think our country’s so innocent?”. It also signals the President’s dismissive emotions regarding O’Reilly’s criticism of Vladimir Putin.
See also:
Nonverbal Communication Analysis №3835: Beauty and the Beast — Official Final Trailer
Nonverbal Communication Analysis №3658: Usain Bolt’s “Cheeky Smile”
Nonverbal Communication Analysis №3789: Felicity Jones, Jyn Erso and Tattoos
Nonverbal Communication Analysis №3642: Does Donald Trump Know Vladimir Putin?
This post and the associated website serve as reference sources for the art and science of Body Language/Nonverbal Communication. The views and opinions expressed here 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 — not to advance any political, religious or other agenda.
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