“Captain of the Ship”: Vance exuded confidence compared to the nervous Walz, says a body language expert

Tuesday’s vice presidential debate between Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz brought together two candidates with different visions for America’s future.

Their body language also contrasted sharply, as Vance projected a sense of calm and in control of the topics, while Walz appeared nervous and overly fidgety at times, although he regained his momentum later in the debate, according to body language expert Carole Lieberman, MD says Fox News Digital.

“What made JD Vance most likable and trustworthy was his authenticity…you could put it in one word. JD Vance was authentic. He made big hand gestures and so on, but they only served to explain what he was saying,” Lieberman said.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz seemed nervous and overly agitated at times, Lieberman says. (Getty Images)

“JD Vance seemed very solid, like you could imagine him as the captain of the ship, and he wasn’t too stiff, but you knew what you were going to get. Every time he seemed sure of himself…” And so you felt like you were safe with him,” Lieberman added.

This contradicted Walz, who, according to Lieberman, was anxious and nervous, especially at the beginning of the debate.

“With Tim Walz he was completely over the moon. He was very nervous and also had body language signs of lying. His body language didn’t match what he was saying. It was like too much, you felt exhausted and… scared.”

Lieberman says Walz left unanswered his question about whether he was at Tiananmen Square because of the deadly protests in the spring of 1989. Walz had previously said he was in Hong Kong during the protests, but Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets report that Walz did not actually travel to China until August of this year.

CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan asked Walz to explain the discrepancy. Walz initially tried to avoid the question, but eventually admitted that he had “misspoken” after at times referring to himself as a “knucklehead.”

“He was so defensive, he was just talking in circles and wouldn’t admit he was lying. If he had said that at the beginning it would have been more honest.”

REGARD: Walz had to correct his information about whether he was in China for the Tiananmen Square protests

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According to Lieberman, body language plays an important role in debates because people may not give their full attention to the entire debate and some topics interest people more than others.

She says Vance, 40, was the more experienced politician despite only serving in the Senate since January 2023, while Walz served in Congress from 2007 to 2019 before becoming governor of Minnesota.

“(Walz) seemed like the new politician, like he was just trying to figure these things out. He was always looking down… I mean, yeah, it’s fine to take notes while you’re talking, but… he was frantically taking notes like, “Oh man, I better say that” and “That’s the answer to that.” It “It really didn’t seem to help him much, but I think it was a nervous balance.”

“With JD, however, you could see the Yale debater,” Lieberman said.

“He obviously has years of practice, debated in college, as a lawyer and so on. You’ve read or heard about both practicing, but if it comes from an authentic place, you don’t really have to do that.” Practice enough that you know what you want to do and just say it. On the other hand, if you hide things by joking around, you need to practice to make sure you don’t say that. And that’s how it came across.”

Republican Senator JD Vance represented a sense of calm and control of affairs, says Lieberman. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The CBS News vice presidential debate showcased the two candidates’ platforms on issues such as the ongoing war in the Middle East, abortion laws and their respective candidates’ economic records. During the 90-minute debate, there were some arguments between Vance and Walz, including the moderators turning off Vance’s microphone.

Commentators on both sides of the political spectrum largely agreed that Vance won the debate with a more polished performance at a heavily political event without personal attacks. Immediately after the debate, the two were seen shaking hands and chatting.

Lieberman says Vance was confident in pursuing the case for the Trump ticket and had no problem representing the issues the Republican Party stands for.

“He was like, ‘Let’s go, I can’t wait to do this, I’m going to do it’ … he’s Trump lite,” Lieberman said. “It’s a kind of authenticity that I want to take care of America, I want to make America great again, it all came about very organically and in the end you just wanted him to push Tim Walz away. ‘You’ “That makes me nervous,” and with JD Vance you just felt like, “Okay, that’s good.”

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Commentators on both sides of the political spectrum largely agreed that Vance won the debate with a more polished performance at a politically motivated event devoid of personal attacks. (Reuters)

Lieberman says it appears that Walz’s strategy was largely to blame Trump for many of the problems or to quote Trump when responding to answers, and when that response became ineffective, he appeared lost.

“Walz was nervous at times, and then he showed some signs of lying, such as fidgeting. Mainly his movements didn’t match what he was saying. Those puppy dog ​​looks that Vance was giving, I think, was what was killing him… He.” I was practicing what bad things to say about Trump, and that wasn’t a good plan.

Lieberman says Walz also had some “brain freeze moments.”

“You could call it a senior moment, he stared and you wondered, ‘Is he going to keep going? Is there more?’ And that was very concerning,” Lieberman said.

“During the 90 minutes, Tim Walz made you more and more nervous, anxious and irritable, while gradually you felt calmer and felt like everything was going to be okay with JD Vance. And even if you couldn’t.” Hear the words they spoke and just observe them. This is how you would feel.