Joe Biden has shown he's "oblivious of his incoherence" as he "bumbled and faltered" through last night's debate, a body language expert has warned.
The two presidential hopefuls faced off in Atlanta on Thursday evening in the first of two debates planned in the run-up to the November election. Appearing together on stage, they didn't shake each other's hand and got right into slamming the other's policies and character.
Biden arrived with a raspy voice and spoke softly, the result, his campaign said, of a cold. Biden sometimes mumbled, got tongue-tied or lost his train of thought, a performance unlikely to calm anxiety among Democrats and many Americans about the 81-year-old president.
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The 78-year-old Trump, as he often does, spoke with force but with plentiful falsehoods. Body language expert Judi James saw the performances of the two candidates, and gave her expert opinion on what their body language conveys.
She told the Mirror: "There are currently two versions of Biden: The bumbling, faltering and often rambling man who needs to be led by the hand and the man who produced the very energised, fluent and passionate-sounding State of the Union address this year. It was the first Biden who turned up for most of the debate last night."
Judi pointed out that despite Biden's apparent frailty, his body language during the debate did not exhibit any signs of nervousness. She said: "Despite his obvious frailty, Biden's body language during the debate did not show any signs of nervousness or a lack of confidence. If anything he looked oblivious of his incoherence and moments of freeze."
Judi suggested that Biden being seemingly unaware of his own mistakes is a cause for concern, highlighting that "Most speakers would take themselves off a stage and into a retirement home if they were consciously aware they were struggling like this but for Biden it looks like he sees it as a minor blip that he can function through and nobody will notice, which is probably a bigger worry than if it were cognitive."
She continued: "During the debate Biden's enunciation was poor and he muddled words and numbers, like 'billions' for 'millions'. He froze at one point and rambled at others. His hands appeared to flutter and his mouth often hung open in what looked like an expression of bewilderment. There were moments when he was snappy with his replies and scored strong points off Trump but others when he sounded like a school kid arguing at play time."
Following the debate, Judi revealed that Biden's performance took an unexpected twist. "Post-debate though he strides about, holding the mic with what looks like a steady hand or with one hand placed in his pocket in a signal of relaxed confidence. He smiles and jokes and engages his audience," she concluded.