A body language expert has shared her thoughts on how Donald Trump and JD Vance really felt when bishop Mariann Budde asked them to ‘have mercy’ on members of the LGBTQ+ community as he regains power of the country.
The Right Rev Mariann Budde made her comments at a church service held Tuesday January 21, the day after Trump was sworn in on January 20, just a day after he signed an order officially declaring there are only two sexes.
The church service is a traditional part of inauguration day in the United States, and Trump was joined by his vice president, Vance, as Budde gave her sermon at St. John’s Church in Washington, DC.
Budde aimed her comments towards the new leaders of the United States as she said: “Let me make one final plea, Mr President. Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday you have felt the providential hand of a loving God.
“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives.”
Trump and Vance seemed to give little away as they listened to Budde, but body language expert Judi James has shared her insights after watching the scene and revealed the new president did in fact ‘leak out’ some feelings.
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: “Trump’s first roasting came early and from the unexpected source of a pulpit. As the bishop begged for mercy for immigrants, transgender and gay children etc there was a bristling among Trump’s group as a whole.
“Trump managed something close to a poker face but he managed to leak out feelings of impatience and brewing irritation via some of his subtler non-verbal signals.”
According to James, Trump begins by ‘implying he is going to keep his thoughts to himself via a cut-off gesture as he glances downward’.
She continued: “When the bishop talks about ‘people who pick crops and labour in poultry farms’ he taps his order of service in a metronomic ritual of impatience. His mouth falls slightly open and then his jaw slews to the right and he turns his torso to look to the side in the most emphatic reaction before looking down at his program again.”
When it comes to Vance, James claimed the vice president was ‘more open’ in his response to Budde.
She said: “When the children are mentioned, he glances at his wife in a more obvious gesture of rejection and his eyes come back to the front with a partial, wry smile. He turns to his wife twice then raises his brows in an expression of mock surprise before studying his program. At one point he tries to catch Trump’s eye in a tie-sign signal that suggests a desire to show unity and support.”
Budde has received a lot of praise for her decision to raise her concerns with Trump and Vance directly, with viewers online celebrating her ‘courage’.
