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During the 2024 campaign cycle, Americans witnessed what appeared to be no love lost between President-elect Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama.
However, to the above President Jimmy Carter At the funeral, the two recent presidents appeared to be enjoying each other’s company and largely ignored other dignitaries arriving, including Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden.
Susan Constantine, an expert in communication and body language, said Harris came off “as well as could be”.
“‘Ice princess’ around. She was very robotic when she walked. That’s what I call ‘stiffness’ when we see that kind of soldier stance.”
HARRIS, EMHOFF APPEAR TO IGNORE TRUMP, OBAMA, LIKE VEEP GIRLS IN THE PRESIDENTIAL FILM
Harris deliberately avoided eye contact with Trump, in a sign of disdain. The tension in his facial expression, with his lips puckered to the center, showed there was “no love lost” between the two 2024 contenders.
“He walked past her on purpose and a step of arrogance and confidence that didn’t sit well with him,” Constantine said. “(He) tells me he went in there with a chip on his shoulder.”
Another attendee who seemed quieter than usual was former first lady Laura Bush.
Constantine said Mrs. Bush has always been known for her outgoing personality, but noted that she did not wave to the Trumps or Obamas to her left.
“I think she’s always been such a beautiful, eloquent woman who always has a genuine smile and seems to be very cordial. So I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt,” Constantine said, adding that she saw Bush look. over his right shoulder only briefly to make eye contact, potentially with Al Gore or the Quayles.
However, Constantine said there was one interaction that really stood out: Trump’s jovial conversation and gesticulations with Barack Obama.
TRUMP CHATS WITH OBAMA WHILE CLINTONS, HARRIS IGNORE PRESIDENT-ELECT AT CARTER WAKE
Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump share a laugh at Washington National Cathedral. (Fox Business)
“They add a relationship. There was no doubt about it.”
“President Obama was tilting his head toward him listening to what Trump had to say. Trump was always in this forward position. He was always ready, engaged. And he and President Obama and Trump felt very much like that with each other that they may have had it made the rest of them (presidential aides) a little uncomfortable.”
However, there was one moment when Trump appeared to be talking about something that Obama seemed to wish was kept until after the somber event.
Trump appeared to give a “shrug” to Obama, as if to ask “what do you think about that?”
Obama’s furrowed brow and “neutral expression” showed he was listening intently, but the men were having an “intense conversation,” Constantine said.
The New York Post reported that a lip reader suggested the two were discussing “international agreements” that would therefore require such sensitivity.
Vice President Harris reacts to seeing Presidents Obama and Trump conversing. (Fox Business)
Asked if Gore seemed to make a point of being the first to greet Trump, as well as others, Constantine said that would mean the Tennessean shows respect and is a “perfect gentleman.”
Trump passed the Quayles without any members of the second family under President George HW Bush rising, but Gore quickly rose to shake hands.
The longtime Democrat was probably putting politics aside when he greeted the Republican president-elect, he said.
Obama’s George W. Bush “belly touch” made the rounds at X after the ceremony.
“When you touch somebody in the stomach, that’s where all your emotions are. And when you touch somebody in that, it’s a personal area. You have to feel very comfortable to be able to do that. You have to feel very comfortable. with that relationship to do it,” he said of Bush, who has in fact had a civil relationship with the man who repeatedly criticized him in 2008.
Bush also notably reached back to playfully hit Vice President Dan Quayle with his ballot as he took his seat.
This could be a sign that Bush was uncomfortable, or just a less intimate or playful greeting.
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Former Vice President Al Gore stands up to greet Donald Trump (Fox Business)
The Clintons and Bidens he arrived remarkably without actively greeting the rest of the assembled dignitaries. Hillary Clinton had a “disbelieving” facial expression that she has shown before, Constantine said.
“If you could zoom in on Hillary, you’d see the dimples on either side of her mouth make that disbelieving expression that she has.
In general, Constantine said, when people go to funerals, they act differently and tend to greet everyone regardless of past differences, and that sentiment could influence the interactions seen Thursday.
Meanwhile, forensic lip reader – expert witness Jeremy Freeman – told the New York Post that it appeared Trump told Obama the two should find a “quiet place” soon to discuss “an important issue”.
“I’ve backed out of that. It’s the conditions. Can you imagine that?” Trump said at one point, according to Freeman.
Freeman also indicated that it appeared that Trump asked Obama to call him after the funeral mass to discuss the issue or issues further.
The moment struck a different tone between the two men, as Trump previously played down allegations that Obama is Muslim, referring to him by his full name which includes the middle name Hussein.
Obama has also taken shots at Trump over the years, including during the 2024 campaign when he appeared to reference Trump’s private parts with a joke about the size of the crowd while gesturing with his hands inches away.
He also compared Trump’s speeches to the diatribes of the late Cuban communist leader Fidel Castro:
“You have the two-hour speeches, the word salad. It’s like Fidel Castro over and over again,” Obama told a crowd in Allegheny County, Pa. in October.
