Bernie Sanders’ Body Language Says He Angrily and Reluctantly Endorses Hillary Clinton

In making this analysis, know that I have no bias whatsoever. I am not supporting one candidate over another. I am objectively using my skills as a Communication and Body language expert to share my observations.

As Bernie Sanders takes to the podium to say why he say came here, notice that Hillary is leaning away from him and looks miserable. There is no smiling on either of their parts. That is not a good sign.

Bernie then says he wants to make it as clear as possible as to why he is endorsing Hillary Clinton. While she begins to smile, Bernie is definitely not smiling. Instead, he licks his lips and then purses his lips, as you see in the photo above. In essence,  the lip licking and swallowing reflects that  his autonomic nervous system has taken over and he is clearly doing something that he does not want to do. The lip pursing is the body’s way of saying “I really don’t want to say this.” His lack of smiling when standing next to Hillary also reveals his true negative feelings towards her. It indicates that he is  not enthused to be endorsing her. Hillary clearly knows how he feels as she exhibits a teeth-clenched,  forced smile with her eyes not crinkling.

 

Hillary also feels Bernie’s “Burn” so to speak as she leans back with a more serious facial expression and also purses her lips. This  further indicates her discomfort around him. At first, she was smiling as you saw  earlier. But then she quickly changes her facial expression as she no doubt, feels the negative energy coming from Bernie.

 

As Bernie  says Hillary  will be the Democratic nominee for President, Hillary is not smiling and her hands continue to be clasped in front of her private area in front of her, indicating that she is feeling vulnerable. The reason she may be feeling vulnerable may be because she may be feeling that Bernie’s heart isn’t really into his endorsement. She knows he is doing what is politically correct. But  she also knows that he is clearly not feeling it, based on his body language.

There is something to be said about the expression “tongue in cheek” which means you are saying something that you really don’t mean. Look at how Bernie literally has his tongue in his cheek while he is endorsing Hillary, indicating that deep down, he doesn’t mean it.

Then he balls his hand into a fist as he says he will do everything he can to make certain she is the next President. Hillary is still not smiling nor is Bernie. That is his anger leaking out. He is feeling angry at having to endorse Hillary and it has shown in his body language.

As Bernie says she will be the next President of the United States, he looks down and frowns.  He does not look at Hillary. In fact, throughout his speech, he never looked at Hillary, which is telling. Hillary does manage to smile at these words and it is a genuinely happy smile with cheeks raised, eyes crinkled, and teeth showing.

 

As the audience cheers, Bernie looks angry and he gives a huge sigh of defeat. Then he looks down and purses his lips, as you can see in the photo above. He  is clearly not a happy camper and Hillary knows it. Yet, she tries to stay positive.

The bottom line is that Bernie Sanders is angry, swallowing his pride, toeing the party line, and being politically correct. But his heart is clearly not in it as you can see from his body language signals. Hillary knows this as well, as it is reflected in her body language. Yet, she tries to keep up a pleasant expression. The fact that she has continued to hold on to herself with her hands clasped directly in front of her throughout the entires speech, without moving,  shows that she was literally “bracing herself” until Bernie’s  non- heartfelt endorsement  was over.

When Hillary began to speak, Bernie’s autonomic nervous system was working overtime as you can tell in the photos above. He was perspiring profusely, which appeared  to be an indication of his emotional state.

He wiped his forehead, both sides of his cheeks, and did it two different times. Apparently, giving this speech appeared to be one of the most difficult things he had to do as part of the campaign.

He even wiped his mouth as there was sweat above his upper lip, which is often an indication of deception. Even though his words said he was happy for Hillary and that he was endorsing her wholeheartedly, his body appeared to say the opposite.

He  literally had to catch his breath. He took a very deep breath whereby you could see his shoulders raising as he then deeply exhaled that breath. He was oxygenating himself to stay composed.

His shoulders were rounded as though he felt defeated. His lips were also pursed, indicating unhappiness.

He maintained that pursed lip appearance as his jaw jutted forth, which indicated that he was feeling anger at the situation of having to endorse Hillary.  As we have observed, his body language, while remaining in the background while she spoke, spoke volumes about what he was really feeling .

Once again, this is not any indication of any political bias. I merely reported my observations on their body language as a professional Body Language and Communication expert.