THREAD: Body Language Analysis No. 4277: Donald Trump's First Person Shooter/Terrorist's POV Display at the NRA Convention - #Nonverbal & #EmotionalIntelligence • • #DonaldTrump #NRASpeech #FPS #GunGesture #BodyLanguage #BodyLanguageExpert
1/ On Friday 4 May 2018, President Trump gave a speech at the NRA's national meeting in Dallas, Texas. What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of a crucial portion of that speech.
2/ President Trump (continuing at 22:07), "... But they died in a restaurant & various other close-proximity places. They were brutally killed by a small group of terrorists - that had guns. They took their time - & gunned them down, one-by-one. Boom! Come over here. Boom! ..."
3/ "...Come over here. Boom! If you were - in those rooms - one of those people - and the survivors - said, 'It just lasted forever'. But if one employee - or just one patron had a gun - ..."
4/ "... or if one person in this room had been there with a gun - aimed at the opposite direction - the terrorists would have fled or been shot and it would have been a whole different story - I mean - ..."
5/ In this passage, Trump was speaking about the Paris attacks on 13 November 2015 in which 137 people died (including 7 terrorists) and 413 were wounded (80-99 critically).
6/ Note that each time he said, "Boom!", President Trump displayed a dynamic handgun illustrator (not to be confused with a pistol steeple). This image is from the 22:25 mark. 
7/ This second photo is from 22:27.
8/ And this third image is from 22:29.
On each of these occasions, Donald Trump was stepping into the point-of-view of the terrorists. He was reenacting a bit of the Paris event from the perspective of the killers.
On each of these occasions, Donald Trump was stepping into the point-of-view of the terrorists. He was reenacting a bit of the Paris event from the perspective of the killers.
9/ In stark contrast, when he posited the idea of one of the hostages being armed and aiming their weapon back at the terrorist - the President did NOT configure his hand in a similar fashion.
10/ This was not the first time Donald Trump used a handgun illustrator. You'll recall that on 23 January 2016 in Sioux City, Iowa he said, "... My people are so smart. And you know what else they say about my people? - The polls. They say, 'I have the most loyal people'..."
11/ "... Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, Okay? It's like incredible!"
12/ On that occasion, he pointed his handgun illustrator directly at the television camera (image immediately above).
13/ Although there are exceptions (e.g., law enforcement, some military, actors, comedic scenarios) a handgun illustrator is an extremely rare nonverbal display for anyone in a leadership position to use - particularly high office holders.
14/ Regardless of the culture or country, even the much more common index finger (forefinger) pointing is hyper-aggressive and highly offensive (which Trump also repeatedly displays).
15/ Yet multiple simulated gun-firing gestures - from the point of view of a real ISIS/ISIL terrorist/event - reenacting killing which actually occurred - ...
16/ ... and particularly when contrasting these actions with a LACK of a similar gesture for his armed (good-guy) hostage theoretical person(s) - absolutely calls into question the President's psyche - and particularly how he views himself.
17/ SUMMARY: This is a Rorschach-type moment - with his nonverbal behavior substituting for ink-blots... (cont.)...
18/ ... The President's nonverbal behavior in this video strongly suggests that he relates more to the minds' and actions' of the terrorist-killers than those of his would-be hostages-turned-heroes... (cont.)...
19/ The multiple handgun illustrators use in this context is highly correlative with dramatically reduced or complete absence of empathy - as well as impulse control disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and (on occasion) antisocial personality disorder.
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