Trump-Harris debate: Body language expert weighs in on high-stakes faceoff: ‘Fell into the trap’

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Body language expert weighs in on Trump Harris debate performance

Body language expert Susan Constantine shares her thoughts on Tuesday's ABC News Presidential Debate.

Vice President Kamala Harris successfully baited former President Trump on several occasions at Tuesday’s ABC Presidential Debate, making him see red and knocking him off course, according to body language expert Susan Constantine.

Tuesday’s debate in Philadelphia was the first time Trump and Harris shared the debate stage, with commentators opining that it was a good night for Harris while Trump has had better performances. 

That was, in part, due to how Harris sparked reactions from Trump, who became more frustrated and angry as the night wore on.

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Vice President Kamala Harris successfully baited former President Trump during their debate, according to body language expert Susan Constantine. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Constantine tells Fox News Digital that Harris knew Trump’s weak points, such as questioning crowd sizes at his rallies, and when she brought them up, he defiantly responded — to his detriment. 

"He fell for every one of her games; they were all tactics," Constantine says. "So when she would poke the bear, he would growl back, and she would keep poking the bear and especially when it came to, of course, the crowds."

Harris said that people at Trump’s rallies often leave early out of exhaustion and boredom. Trump responded by saying that his rallies have record-breaking crowds, whereas Harris buses people to her rallies and pays them to be there.

"She knew every single one of his weak points, and he would defend it instead of answering the question and just staying on task. He was spending most of his time hitting her back with the ball and also defending himself, which was not a good approach," Constantine says.

"You could see that Trump was getting really, really upset about it. At one point, he dropped his shoulders, dropped his head, and he sunk. And then you see the upper lip [move upward] very quickly. It was a micro-expression of leakage, of hatred and disgust and scorn… he was really angry at her for saying that."

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Former President Trump speaks at Tuesday's debate. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Constantine says Trump was angry for a reason, noting that Harris made a lot of derogatory remarks, and thus he was unable to regain control of the debate after being goaded by Harris, whose smiles were reflective of her knowing she had cornered the former president. 

"You would see his anger, his voice inflection, his pressed eyebrows pursed or his tightened lips. He was angry. In fact, you could hear a lot in his voice," she explains. "His lips were pressed most of the time. He was suppressing a lot of his own feelings towards her, which was anger. All that did was fuel for Harris because she knew she got him. That's why you kept seeing the smiles. And every time she got him… she rewarded herself with a great big perma-smile."

Constantine says that Harris’ smiles were often not genuine and were abnormally long. Harris also did this to prod Trump and smiled as a fallback plan when she didn’t agree with things Trump said, according to Constantine.

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"Real smiles don't last beyond the very longest four seconds. When a person holds that smile and does it throughout, that's condescending, and what she's doing is she is also dismissing what Trump is saying and [that] is covered with the perma-smile. That is inauthentic," Constantine explains. "If she wants to diminish what Trump is saying, she smiles all the way through or even laughs at that in itself."

Constantine says that there was a clear distinction between the two candidates: Trump with a more serious tone, Harris appearing happier.  

In the beginning, Harris would kick her head back often and almost leave her head tilting up, which Constantine describes as a "superiority stance." She raised her nose up and crossed her arms evaluating. 

"It was condescending and also smug. Not a good move," Constantine says.

Constantine says Harris was very illustrative with her hand movements and looked straight into the camera, knowing exactly how to frame her gestures.

"She spoke to the American people. She played the card musically perfect in a lot of ways. So I think that she had gotten a lot of coaching," says the body language expert.

Constantine says Harris went out of sync when she was tripped up about a question about whether she supports any restrictions on a woman's right to an abortion.

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Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris shake hands ahead of Tuesday's debate. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

"She evaded that question because she couldn't really answer," she explains. "So that's when her eyes go down she starts to do the ‘bobblehead.’ And that was a cluster of deception."

Additionally, Constantine praised Harris for her pre-debate handshake, noting that the vice president moved into Trump’s space to engage with him.

"She paused for a minute. She was almost slightly hesitant, but then she went for it… So I'm going to give her a point for that one," Constantine says. "Overall… it was certainly a boxing match. They were completely on opposite sides, of course. There was no love there on [the] Trump side, and then I think that Harris used that to her advantage and Donald Trump fell into the trap."