Body language expert breaks down 2nd Republican debate

WASHINGTON – A lot was said on the Republican presidential debate stage Wednesday night – but even more can be gleaned from what wasn’t spoken, DC-based body language expert Chris Ulrich exclusively told The Post.

“At the end of the day, people aren’t always going to remember what you said,” he said.

“They’re going to remember how you spoke, how you showed up and how your presence was in those particular moments.”

Some of the best indicators of leadership potential have little to do with words spoken. Instead, candidates at the second Republican debate of the 2024 campaign were challenged to balance two key factors: confidence and likability, Ulrich said.

“They’re trying to do two things: One, come across competent and effective like they could sit in the presidential chair,” he said. “And then in the same vein, the other thing that voters are looking for is: ‘Are you likable? Can I trust you?’

“What we’re looking at is openness vs. closed in our body language or an increase of anxiety or a calmness,” he said.

“What the body language does is it helps us assess if they are able to handle the pressure, if they are they showing us anxiety or they’re getting emotionally angry,” he said.

‘Powerful’ Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley’s Wednesday performance evoked confidence and relatability through her decisive answers and assertive gestures and postures, Ulrich said. While making her points, The 51-year-old used a chopping motion – as if she’s cutting through noise – that the expert said helped her come across as “very focused” and “powerful.”

Ulrich said the former UN ambassador also came across “feisty” with confidence when attacked by other candidates on the stage, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), 58, Fla. Gov. Ron DeSantis, 45, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 38.

“One of the things that she’s willing to do is take them on,” he said. “When she gets interrupted, she does not stop talking.”

Before giving her responses, she would face the candidate lobbing the attack, squaring her shoulders and locking eyes with him.

“What she does effectively – she turns her entire body toward that person, and that’s pretty confrontational,” he said. “When we turn our belly button in the direction of people and do a full turn, this is much more confrontational. It increases the stakes.”

Ulrich also noted that Haley’s smile seemed “authentic,” breaking into a grin after her name was called – unlike the plastered-on grins of other candidates. Still, she showed a moment of trepidation in a pivotal moment when Scott challenged Haley’s experience, calling her time in the South Carolina governor’s mansion inadequate.

“Tim Scott was calling her out a little bit … and you watch her as she’s looking at him and we see a blink-rate increase,” Ulrich said, explaining that the average person blinks 15 to 25 times a minute – or upwards of 50 under the lights of the stage.

“Here comes this Tim Scott moment and potentially an attack when we see her blink rate increase. I think within five seconds, she blinked, like, eight to 10 times – so if we added that up, it’s almost 100 times in a minute,” he added.

A calmer Tim Scott

After getting the first question of the night, Tim Scott was more vocal during Thursday’s debate than he had been at last month’s showdown, garnering noticeably more speaking time.

“Tim Scott was much more relaxed in his body language. He was at ease,” Ulrich said. “He was trained, probably, but he came across very comfortable in his body language and the pace of his speech.”

Still, Ulrich wondered if Scott’s development in the second debate was too far off the mark from his stiffer appearance at the first debate.

“I thought it was a much better debate for him, but does it get the Goldilocks effect?” he said. “Is it too much [change] this time from the first debate?”

Scott struggled when interrupted by other candidates on the stage, who easily commandeered the conversation, Ulrich said.

“This is one of the factors that hurt Tim Scott in those moments of interruption – he would ultimately get quiet,” he said. “We saw that with Jeb Bush when he was battling with (Donald) Trump, and that hurt him in those times.”

“This was Tim Scott’s best debate, but at times he would get rolled by DeSantis, Haley, (Mike) Pence or Ramaswamy and him going back and forth,” he added.

Laughing Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek Ramaswamy – who gained a significant jump in polls following the first debate – was the target of many attacks by his opponents during Wednesday’s debate.

While he excelled at openness and enthusiasm, Ramaswamy may have made a mistake by responding too jovially to the other candidate’s repetitive attacks. Though Ulrich said candidates are often coached to laugh off attacks by opponents, Ramaswamy may have benefitted from standing up to a slight or two.

“It’s important to laugh it off, but at a certain moment, it would have been nice to see him back up and say, ‘Hey, enough is enough,’” he said. “We saw him kind of do that a little bit, but not enough.”

“And so he got beat up to the point where I think he got hurt a little bit tonight,” he added.

However, the 38-year-old’s ear-to-ear grin seen in the first debate shone through Wednesday night, emitting confidence.

Still, Ulrich had a few pointers for Ramaswamy should he participate in the next debate.

“He would tilt his head when he was trying to be serious,” Ulrich said. “For him, I would like to see him more level-headed and then tilt when he was trying to connect with the American people.”

Ron DeSantis’ strained smile

For Ron DeSantis, Ulrich said smiling “is just not his thing.”

The Florida governor’s strained grin – which has become popular in internet memes – was back again on Wednesday night as he attempted to appear more personable after criticisms over his likeability.

While DeSantis was “technically and tactically very effective” in his arguments, Ulrich said he continued to lack relatability in the Wednesday debate with his “forced” smile.

“It’s not a normal smile – he doesn’t engage the corners of his mouth, there’s no crow’s feet,” Ulrich said. “He’s got an issue with it.”

The governor showed the most strength toward the end of the debate, when he slowed his speech and addressed issues he that appeared to make him more comfortable, Ulrich said.

“The only time we see that slowdown is literally at the end of the debate. In the last half hour, we see a calmer DeSantis, a clearer DeSantis,” Ulrich said. “But early on, he was swaying back and forth, he never smiled. And he has the biggest problem — likability.”

When attacked, Ulrich said DeSantis and Haley answered with confidence – but their faces gave away their inner thoughts.

“They would do this lip compression like they don’t like what they see or what they’re hearing,” he said. “We often think the eyes are the window to the soul, but lips are the window to the soul. They reveal much more information – as much, if not more, information than the eyes.”

Chris Christie’s water-cooler moment

Chris Christie, 61, appeared very at ease Thursday night, slumping over the podium in his typical shoot-from-the-hip approach, Ulrich said.

The former New Jersey governor has suffered in GOP polls for his repeated attacks on frontrunner Trump, but it didn’t stop him from making one of the most memorable comments of the night – calling the former president “Donald Duck” for skipping out both Republican debates.

It was at that moment that Ulrich said Christie shined with a powerful hand gesture. While he delivered his attack on 77-year-old Trump from behind the TV screen, Christie pointed his finger decisively at the camera to emphasize his point.

“It’s kind of like if you ever seen those ‘Uncle Sam wants you’ posters [from World War II],” Ulrich said.
“He is saying to Donald Trump, ‘Show up or shut up.’”

Not-so ‘presidential’ Mike Pence

Former Vice President Mike Pence’s slowed speaking pace and serious demeanor played well at the first Republican debate, Ulrich said.

“He’s a known entity, and at the last debate, he was more presidential,” Ulrich said. “When he talks, he slows down and delivers his lines.”

But on Wednesday, Ulrich said he saw a regression of those characteristics on the debate stage, as Pence, 64, fumbled over his talking points at times.

“Today he was stepping over himself – he couldn’t even deliver his lines,” Ulrich said. “And so that awkwardness hurts him.”

That awkwardness was made worse during the debates when it appeared that Pence forced quips to make him seem more likable or trend on social media.

“When he throws a joke and it’s flat, he waits a second, and it looks awkward,” Ulrich said. “It undermines him as presidential.”

‘Thanks for playing, Doug Burgum’

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, 67, did little to elevate his status during Wednesday’s debate, nearly being squeezed out of the picture as he failed to rack up valuable screen time, Ulrich observed.

“For Doug, it’s like, ‘Thanks for playing, Doug,’” Ulrich said, noting that at several points, Burgum had to wave his hands to get moderators’ attention. “I mean, he had to literally force himself into the debate as he gets so few questions.”

But when Burgum did get questions, he failed to come across with confidence because he “rushes his answers,” Ulrich said.

“He talked so fast.”

Who won the body language debate?

Though all the candidates exhibited confidence throughout the debate, Ulrich ultimately said there were no clear winners Wednesday night as they failed to present themselves as real threats to the current Republican and Democratic frontrunners.

“You can make the argument there’s no alternative yet to (President) Biden or Trump,” he said. “At the end of the day, these folks are trying to ‘survive on the island’ – and the question will be, ‘Do they resonate with the American people?’ – not only from what they said, but how they showed up.”

In the forthcoming debates, the candidates will be challenged to differentiate themselves from Trump – who has continued his hefty lead in the polls throughout the 2024 campaign. That could be made more difficult if the former president continues to sit out future GOP debates.

“Did the folks at this debate show up in a way that will, at the end of the day, have the American people and Republican voters say, ‘I’ve seen on this debate stage as an alternative to President Trump?’” Ulrich asked.

“I’m not sure.”