Pete Hegseth Tried To Project Power During His Pentagon Briefing, But Experts Spotted A Very Different Message In His Body Language

Résumé détaillé

Part of that consternation is targeted at Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. His handling of the unpopular war is one of several reasons why Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced…

Republicans are pointing fingers after last week’s midterm elections, which saw Democrats win control of the House and the Senate. Many voters and elected officials are blaming the Iran war for the fallout, and they’re likely not wrong; 71% of Americans want the war to end, HuffPost previously reported.

Part of that consternation is targeted at Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. His handling of the unpopular war is one of several reasons why Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) introduced articles of impeachment against him this week. Hegseth then held a Tuesday morning press conference defending himself against the impeachment effort, where he called Massie a “disgruntled and defeated congressman” and the impeachment effort “a farce” and “a stunt.”

During the contentious press event, Hegseth also frequently praised President Donald Trump’s leadership and compared this impeachment effort to previous ones against the president.

Body language analysis and communication experts described the press conference as a “performance,” “highly scripted” and saw signs of “defensiveness.” Here’s what they picked up:

“Overall, I would say it’s a performance,” said Patti Wood, a body language expert and author of “Snap: Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language, and Charisma.”

Hegseth “doesn’t have the normal vocal emphasis, rhythms — it’s just kind of sing-songy, and it’s highly scripted,” Wood said, before adding that he appears to be reading from a script and not making much eye contact.

“Overall, that’s very telling to me because his job, his reputation, is threatened, and I’m not hearing his usual overconfidence,” she said. “I’m not seeing it and not hearing it.”

When he gets to the podium, Wood said, it’s apparent that he’s nervous. This is “identified by the way he adjusts his notes and holds each side of the podium and uses a vocal filler — ‘well, uh, good morning,’” she noted.

Traci Brown, a body language expert and behavior analyst, noted that Hegseth also had a few “word…

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