Trump is a bigot, misogynist, racist, semi-fascist, and he projects those qualities daily, at rallies, in interviews. But the way he acted tonight was different from what we’ve seen before. Hyper angry and very menacing to the point of, what looked to me, physically threatening Hillary on that stage. It looked like the quintessential alpha male trying to project a physical threat on his “victim” by blustering up to the point where he posed a threatening, overbearing presence throughout the debate. At a few points in the debate I thought Trump might just go after Hillary and hit her. I am not even joking.
I can’t imagine this working well with voters, especially female and sane voters.
And, indeed, Trump flopped tonight, partly due to his horrible body language and the red hot anger he showed on that debate stage tonight.
According to the scientific CNN poll conducted immediately after the debate Hillary won decisively — 57% to 34%, a 23% margin. CNN also had a focus group of undecided voters from Ohio, and most thought Hillary won, only one, ONE, person thought Trump won, others called it a draw. That is a decisive loss for Trump. I guess menacing and threatening on-stage behavior does not play well outside of the beltway.
CNN:
Hillary Clinton Won Second Presidential Debate Over Donald Trump, CNN Poll Says
LA Times:
Second presidential debate updates: Hillary Clinton won again, our analysts say
According to LA Times analysts Hillary won every round (segment) of the debate:
We scored the town hall debate and Hillary Clinton won
Donald Trump really can’t stop looming over Hillary Clinton
At the beginning of the debate, Donald Trump was clearly working to demonstrate his “winning temperament,” by keeping his voice controlled and level, and appearing to try not to interrupt her. But he couldn’t prevent himself walking into Hillary Clinton’s personal space, and seeming to loom behind her regardless of the camera angle.
His unmoving face and rigidly still body language created a menacing backdrop to Clinton’s remarks.
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Staring fixedly at someone and invading their personal space is an instinctive way of signaling hostility and aggression. The Atlantic correspondent James Fallows tweeted that Trump’s looming reminded him of “the dominance rituals of male chimps.”
In other words, Trump’s body language can’t hide his anger.