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'Bobblehead Ron' goes viral: Expert deconstructs Ron DeSantis' bizarre reaction

Ron DeSantis let his face do the talking when asked about Donald Trump's 2024 presidential run

TOKYO, JAPAN: Ron DeSantis' bizarre reaction to a reporter's question about an NBC News poll that showed him falling behind former president Donald Trump has drawn a lot of eyeballs on the Internet. The Florida governor has not officially declared that he will run in 2024, but his recent travels at home and abroad have apparently hinted at his future plan.

However, on Sunday, April 23, an NBC News poll showed DeSantis trailing Trump by 15 points. Then, on Monday, he was confronted with the falling numbers by some reporters in Tokyo, Japan, and to everyone's surprise, the 44-year-old politician answered the question shaking his head, attracting millions of viewers.

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‘Excessive pudding intake’

After De Santis' reaction went viral, one user tweeted, “DeSantis is getting to be really weird. He’s ruining his future in politics.” Another one wrote, “Yes, this video is real. Ron DeSantis is just weird.” “He drank some Bud Light beforehand. I saw that head bobble,” the third user stated and the fourth one jokingly added, “Perhaps Ron DeSantis is suffering the dizzying effects of a sugar rush. Excessive pudding intake.”

Now, body language expert Judi James has tried to decode, DeSantis’ reaction. She told Daily Mail, “DeSantis' body language in this brief moment suggests a surge of conflicting emotions and a desire to present a sense of bravado to counter the question.”

‘The message appears to be about power and dominance’

The expert, however, noted, “The contrast between his initial state and the one he chose in the light of the question is powerful. As he listens to the question he adopts a mouth clamp and a cold, hard-looking eye expression. With two micro lifts of the chin, the message appears to be about power and dominance.”

James further explained, “His eyes fall to the lower left to absorb the question and with the eyes still in reflection mode he seems to throw up responses that might be conflicting. There is a sudden desire to look pleasant and even amused, as his eyebrows raise and he performs a congenial-looking eye-smile. Added to some micro-shrugs of his torso the effect seems to be one of bravado.”

‘His final smile looks like an over-kill’

The body language expert also mentioned, “His head begins to wobble, which in turn becomes two or three circular shapes in the air. This looks like a blend of emotions working at once. A neck wobble can be performed to signal aggressive arousal in the face of a threat or attack. The circles might be prompted by a desire to reject, in a similar way to how we will turn our heads from side to side like a baby rejecting food. His final smile looks like an over-kill as he is already appearing to turn to leave.”

During the April 24 interaction, DeSantis was accompanied by his wife and Florida's first Lady Casey, and as per James, “he might like to take cues from his wife, who stands beside him wearing a stormproof smile as his emotions appear to go through an odd form of leakage.”

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