Thread by @DrGJackBrown

THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4112: Donald Trump's Interview on Sharyl Attkisson's "Full Measure" •

1/ - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

2/ This week Sharyl Attkisson interviewed President Trump on her show, Full Measure.

3/ The twenty-one-second segment featured above is profoundly telling. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis -

4/ as well as an evaluation of the President's paralanguage.

5/ During 0:14, when the President says, "... not - involved ...", his mouth momentarily takes on a configuration of fear.

6/ Due to its extreme brevity, this "Mouth of Fear" expression (immediately above) is also an example of a Microexpression.

7/ As he says, "... believe me ..." (0:17), The President's mouth becomes dramatically asymmetrical, biased toward's his right side.

8/ Sudden asymmetrical (mouth) speaking is highly correlative with deception and false-bravado and is a colossal red flag.

9/ Now go back to 0:11 - here is an example of a somewhat poorer resolution image because the camera angle used was at a greater distance

10/ at the precise moment of the President's maximum nonverbal display - however, watch it on full-screen mode -

11/ for it's another classic but rarely captured nonverbal moment.

12/ When the President says the word, "... innocent ...", his mouth not only takes on another highly one-sided display -

13/ ... but he also projects a "Lip Curl". A Lip curl is a signal of sarcastic false bravado/hubris.

14/ Taken on their own, Trump's body language behaviors are highly indicative of fear and deception -

15/ ... yet if we also evaluate his many paralanguage behaviors, this short video screams even louder.

16/ Here are some Statement Analysis highlights:

1. President Trump didn't answer either of the two questions Sharyl Attkisson had asked.

17/ 2. The President's use of "I am truly - not - involved" suggests quite strongly that Trump acknowledges collusion is taking place -

18/ but the President's just claiming HE'S not involved in it. This is considerably different from saying,

19/ for example, "No collusion with Russian has ever occurred with me or my staff."

20/ 3. Use of the words, "I am not": Opting to not use a contraction when proclaiming one's innocence

21/ or refuting one's guilt is correlated with deception. In the context of this sentence,

22/ ... an innocent person would instead have a strong tendency to use the contraction, "I'm not".

23/ 4. Donald Trump's use of the words "... involved at ..." instead of, "... involved in ..." or "... involved with ..."

24/ is an indication of his anxiety and suggests these other scenarios occurred.

25/ 5. Why is the President not proclaiming his innocence (a positive statement) rather than the denying perpetrating a crime

26/ (a variety of a double negative)? Innocent people will tend to tell you they're innocent, whereas guilty people will tend to tell you

27/ they're not guilty. This axiom stands out even more glaringly when Ms. Attkisson was asking an entirely different question.

28/ 6. The sentence, "That's the last thing I can think of - to be involved in.", is a sarcastic hyperbolic expression,

29/ ... but it suggests there are other things the President would like "to be involved in".

30/ 7. The use of the phrase, "Believe me" is highly correlative with the over-compensatory behavior of deception

31/ (and not coincidentally correlated with the above-noted mouth asymmetry).

32/ 8. The President commits a monumental Freudian slip when he calls himself "not" innocent in the answering of his own question:

33/ answering of his own question:
Trump's question: "... when you talk about innocent (his proposed, [and never-asked] question)

34/ Trump answering his own question: "... I am truly - not - involved at any form of collusion with Russia..."

35/ Furthermore, President Trump paused before and after saying the word "not" -

36/ because he realized, at some level, that he let the truth out.

37/ This is classically & clearly further evidenced nonverbally by his display of a "Mouth of Fear" as he says the word, "not" (see above).

38/ An innocent person, if they posed such a question would tend to say, "When you talk about innocent - I am truly innocent"

39/ (and, moreover, without inserting/stutter with any pauses).

40/ Summary: President Trump's nonverbal and paralanguage behavior both indicate he's lying when he says,

41/ "... when you talk about innocent - I am truly - not - involved at any form of collusion with Russia, believe me...."

42/ "... That's the last thing I can think of - to be involved in."

43/ The President is trying much too hard to convince us of his innocence. Such over-compensatory behavior

44/ as a signal of guilt which has been recognized throughout human history, and is wonderfully captured

45/ in Shakespeare's Hamlet, "The Lady doth protests too much, methinks" (and, not coincidentally, another play within a play).

END