A body language expert has revealed that Joe Biden's silence at Jimmy Carter's funeral may have been a reaction to his grief over the death of the 39th US president.
Biden and the other four living former presidents gathered on Thursday to honor the life of Carter, who died on December 29 at the age of 100, at his state funeral in Washington, D.C.
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Biden, 82, was criticized during the service when he was seen with his eyes closed and his head down before he rose to deliver an emotional eulogy for Carter, who was his friend for several decades.
The president was criticized by social media critics, who assumed he fell asleep during quiet moments, as he had dozed off at public events several times throughout his presidency.
However, body language expert Patti Wood said there may be a more heartbreaking reason for the president's unusual behavior than a well-timed nap.
“When something is very painful or you feel sad, there is a greater tendency to close your eyes,” Wood told The US Sun.
Read more about Carter's funeral
This behavior, called eye blocking, is a technique to block out painful feelings that can cause you emotional distress.
Wood, an author and internationally recognized expert in the field of nonverbal communication, said she often sees this behavior at formal events and funerals because she also specializes in body language in relation to grief.
She went on to say that analyzing people's behavior at funerals can be very revealing because people tend to think about their past losses during such a solemn event.
Biden, who is set to leave the White House when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, has faced heavy losses in the years before he becomes the 46th president of the United States in 2021.
his first wife, Neilia Bidenand their 13-month-old child His daughter NaomiThey were killed in a car accident in Delaware in December 1972.
Biden's eldest son, Beau, also died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.
“It's possible that he's winking a few times because he's tired and exhausted, which also makes sense in the final days of the presidency,” she added.
“But it's also typical of someone experiencing grief, shock and loss at a funeral.”
Biden also wept openly as Carter's coffin approached the funeral, a stark contrast to Trump, who Wood said appeared “distracted” and did not noticeably put his hand over his heart like other attendees.
While Biden's behavior caught the attention of the general public, an eagle-eyed Wood noted another moment that might have been harder to spot.
Jimmy Carter – A Century of Service
President Jimmy Carter died in December 2024 at the age of 100 after a truly remarkable life. From his upbringing in Depression-stricken Georgia, to the White House, to decades of philanthropy, this is the story of his incredible life.
- October 1, 1924 – James Earl Carter Jr. was born in Plains, Georgia, the first U.S. president born in a hospital. His mother worked as a nurse. His father ran a general store
- June 1946 – Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. The following month, he married Rosalyn Smith in his hometown. They remained married for nearly 8 decades and had four children, John William, James Earl III, Donnell Jeffrey, and Amy Lynn.
- 1946 – 1953 – Carter served in the Navy's nuclear submarine program, achieving the rank of first lieutenant.
- 1953 – Carter returns to Plains after his father's death and helps run the family's peanut farm business for the next eighteen years
- 1963 – Carter was elected to the Georgia State Senate
- 1970 – Carter was elected governor of Georgia
- July 1976 – Accepts the Democratic nomination for president, and announces Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale as his running mate.
- November 1976 – Carter defeats Republican President Gerald Ford, receiving 51% of the vote and 297 electoral votes to the Fords' 240.
- September 1977 – The United States and Panama sign treaties to return the Panama Canal to the country in 1999. Trump this year talked about taking it back from Panama.
- September 1978 – Carter oversees the signing of the Camp David Accords, leading to the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt the following year.
- June 1979 – Carter and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev agree to reduce nuclear weapons with the signing of the SALT II Treaty.
- November 1979 – The Iranian hostage crisis begins when gunmen storm the US Embassy in Tehran and take 52 prisoners. The hostages would not be released until 1981, minutes after Carter left office
- November 1980 – Carter loses the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan, who receives 51.6% of the popular vote to Carter's 41.7. Independent John Anderson wins 6.7%.
- 1982 – Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter co-founded the Carter Center in Atlanta. Its goal is to resolve conflicts, protect human rights, and prevent diseases around the world
- September 1984 – The Carter family spends a week building Habitat for Humanity homes. It will become Carter's annual work project
- 1989 – 1999 – Carter travels around the world to participate in peace talks in various conflicts and scenes of tension, including North Korea, Bosnia, Sudan, and Haiti.
- August 1999 – Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.
- December 2002 – Carter receives the Nobel Peace Prize
- October 2014 – Carter celebrates his 90th birthday
- December 2014 – Nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Spoken Word Album category for his book “Call to Action.”
- August 2015 – Carter has a small cancerous mass removed from his liver
- May 2016 – Steps back from his work on the Front Line.
- 2018 – Carter Spreads Faith: A Journey for All. It is his thirty-second and final book
- March 2019 – Carter becomes the longest-living US president, surpassing President George H.W. Bush, who died in 2018.
- 2019 – Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter gave their final personal report at the Carter Center. Carter suffers a fall, but still joins a work project with Habitat for Humanity in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the last time he will personally work on the annual project
- January 2021 – The Carter family misses President Joe Biden's inauguration, the first party they have not attended since Carter's in 1977.
- February 2023 – Carter enters home care after several short hospital stays
- July 2023 – The Carters celebrate their 77th and final wedding anniversary
- November 2023 – Rosalyn dies at home
- October 2024 – Carter becomes the first former US president to turn 100 years old. In the same month, he cast his vote by mail in Georgia for Democrat Kamala Harris.
- December 2024 – Carter dies at home. His funeral takes place the following month in Washington, DC
Wood identified the key dynamic between Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence just by looking at their handshake.
She noted that Trump's thumb placement on his former vice president's hand was “in a strange, angular position,” leading her to describe it as a “dig handshake” meant to hurt Pence.
“It's actually digging into that fairly sensitive area between Pence's index finger and thumb,” Wood explained.
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She added that Pence responded to the drilling with a “shield movement,” by placing his hands, with his fingers curled, in front of the abdominal part of his body, which is the most vulnerable part of the body.
“We see his desire and need to protect himself as he interacts with Trump and shakes his hand,” Wood said.
“There's something else going on.”
Wood said that by drilling his hand, Trump intended to assert himself as the “top dog” or alpha male in a move aimed at “hurting” Pence.
In this case, [Trump is] Make a nonverbal effort to lean into him [Obama] “And talk to him and joke with him.”
Patty Wood
She added that Pence's expression, which was a somewhat furtive look with tense eyebrows, appeared to have been set in an angry reaction.
“He's angry, but he also feels the need to protect himself,” she said.
The relationship between Trump and Pence has been strained since Pence refused to support Trump following the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
After Trump defended Capitol rioters who protested the results of Biden's victory in the 2020 election, Pence lashed out at his former boss by certifying Biden's presidential electoral votes.
Melania “glowing”.
Pence wasn't the only person who appeared to be put off by Trump at the funeral, as Wood also said Melania seemed unhappy to be there.
The former and returning first lady had a “glowing” and “angry” expression that was amplified by her arms and legs tightly pressed together, she said.
Wood said that over the years, Melania's body language has become more “reserved, more austere, more stiff, more pointed — and sharp edges are particularly indicative of anger.”
Wood said Melania's stiffness indicated “no signs that she wanted to be seen as his partner” or that she did not want to appease Trump at the funeral.
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Meanwhile, next to her, Trump looked relaxed and at ease as he cracked a joke with former President Barack Obama.
While Trump tended to laugh with Obama, whose wife, Michelle, was the only former first lady to miss the funeral, Wood said Obama was dominating the conversation.
“Trump is the one who is more inclined,” Wood explained.
“He's putting as much effort into getting closer to Obama.
“In this case, he makes a nonverbal effort to lean in, talk to him, and joke with him.”
It is unclear what Trump and Obama talked about at the funeral.
After the burial ceremony, Carter will return to his home state of Georgia to be buried next to his wife, Rosalynn Carter, whom he married 77 years ago in his hometown.
“I miss him, but I take solace in knowing that he and his beloved Rosalynn are reunited,” Biden said during his eulogy.
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