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.
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.