After wrapping up the final presidential debate of the campaign season on Wednesday, GOP nominee Donald Trump and his surrogates worked hard to convince the public that he’d won. The objectives were classic Trump: remain confident and composed, combat the narrative that the campaign is in a tailspin ― and above all else, remind people that Donald Trump is a winner.
In truth though, Trump’s body language told a different story. A post-debate clip shows the real estate mogul seething while he tears a page out of his notepad. He then tries to regain his cool as his opponent Hillary Clinton walks by to shake hands.
Here’s another angle, this time with a Johnny Cash soundtrack.
It’s not clear why Trump was upset. Perhaps he understood that he’d just blown the debate by refusing once again to say he’d accept the results of the election, a move that could subvert the democratic process. Maybe his rage was directed toward Clinton, whom he’d just called a “nasty woman.” Or maybe he was simply frustrated that his chances of avoiding total humiliation on Nov. 8 appear to be dwindling with each passing day.
Current predictions suggest Trump has less than a 5 percent chance of winning next month, with polls showing him trailing by substantial margins in a number of key battleground states.
With such a steep hill to climb, Trump’s own demeanor is increasingly defying the portrait of success he’s spent the past three decades painting. At Wednesday’s debate, Trump seemingly acknowledged that Clinton is likely to beat him, making an offhand remark wishing her luck in the coming years.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.
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