JOE Biden’s shuteye at Jimmy Carter’s funeral might have been a reaction to his grief over the death of the 39th president of the United States, a body language expert has revealed.
Biden reunited with the four other living former presidents on Thursday to honor the life of Carter, who died on December 29 aged 100, at his state funeral in Washington DC.
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Biden, 82, came under fire during the service when he was spotted with closed eyes and his head down before getting up to deliver an emotional eulogy for Carter, who was his friend for multiple decades.
The president was blasted by social media critics who assumed he fell asleep during the quiet moments, as he’s dozed off at public events multiple times throughout his presidency.
However, body language expert Patti Wood said there might be a more heartbreaking reason for the president’s unusual behavior than a poorly-timed nap.
“When something is very painful or you’re grieving, there’s a higher tendency for you to close your eyes,” Wood told The U.S. Sun.
READ MORE ON CARTER’S FUNERAL
The behavior, called eye blocking, is a technique to block painful emotions that could cause you emotional distress.
Wood, an author and internationally recognized expert on nonverbal communication, said she often sees this behavior at solemn events and funerals as she also specializes in body language regarding grief.
She went on to say analyzing people’s behavior at funerals can be extremely revealing as people are prone to consider 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, faced horrible losses in the years before he became the 46th president of the United States in 2021.
His first wife, Neilia Biden, and their 13-month-old daughter, Naomi, were killed in a car crash in Delaware in December 1972.
Biden’s oldest son, Beau, also died from brain cancer in 2015 aged 46.
“It could be that he’s catching a few winks because he’s tired and fatigued, which would also make sense in the last days of the presidency,” she added.
“But it’s also typical of somebody specifically in grief, trauma, and loss at a funeral.”
Biden also openly wept as Carter’s casket approached the funeral, which was a stark contrast from Trump, who Wood said seemed “distracted” and noticeably didn’t have his hand over his heart like other attendees.
While Biden’s behavior caught the eye of the general public, eagle-eyed Wood noticed another moment that might’ve been harder to spot.
JIMMY CARTER – A CENTURY OF SERVICE
PRESIDENT Jimmy Carter died in December 2024 at the 100 after a truly remarkable life. From growing up in Depression-hit Georgia, to the White House, to decades of charity work, this is the story of his astonishing life.
- Oct 1, 1924 – James Earl Carter Jr. is born in Plains, Georgia, the first American president to be born in a hospital. His mom worked as a nurse. His father ran a general store
- Jun 1946 – Carter graduates from US Naval Academy. The following month, he marries Rosalynn Smith in his hometown. They remain married for almost 8 decades and have four children, John William, James Earl 3rd, Donnel Jeffrey, and Amy Lynn
- 1946-53 – Carter serves in a Navy nuclear submarine program, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander
- 1953 – Carter returns to Plains after his father’s death and helps run the family’s peanut farm business for the next 18 years
- 1963 – Carter is elected to the Georgia state Senate
- 1970 – Carter is elected governor of Georgia
- Jul 1976 – He accepts the Democratic nomination for president, announcing Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale as his running mate
- Nov 1976 – Carter defeats Republican President Gerald Ford, winning 51% of the vote and 297 electoral votes to Fords’s 240
- Sep 1977 – US and Panama sign treaties to return Panama Canal back to the country in 1999. Trump has talked this year of reclaiming it from Panama
- Sep 1978 – Carter oversees the signing of Camp David accords, leading to peace deal between Israel and Egypt the following year
- Jun 1979 – Carter and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev agree to nuclear arms reduction with the signing of the SALT II treaty
- Nov 1979 – The Iranian hostage crisis begins as militants storm the US Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 prisoners. The hostages will not be freed until 1981, minutes after Carter leaves office
- November 1980 – Carter loses the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan, who wins 51.6% of popular vote to Carter’s 41.7. Independent John Anderson wins 6.7%
- 1982 – Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter co-found The Carter Center in Atlanta. Its aim is to resolve conflicts, protect human rights, and prevent disease around the world
- Sep 1984 – The Carters spend a week building Habitat for Humanity houses. It will become the annual Carter Work Project
- 1989 – 1999 – Carter travels the world engaging in peace talks in various conflict and scenes of tension, including North Korea, Bosnia, Sudan, and Haiti
- Aug 1999 – Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton
- Dec 2002 – Carter is awarded the Nobel Peace Price
- Oct 2014 – Carter celebrates his 90th birthday
- Dec 2014 – He is nominated for a Grammy in the best spoken word album category for his book A Call To Action
- Aug 2015 – Carter has a small cancerous mass removed from his liver
- May 2016 – He steps back from his “front-line” worjk
- 2018 – Carter publishes Faith: A Journey for All. It is his 32nd – and last – book
- Mar 2019 – Carter becomes the longest-lived US president, surpassing President George HW Bush, who died in 2018
- 2019 – Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter deliver their final in-person report at The Carter Center. Carter suffers a fall, but still joins in the Work Project with Habitat for Humanity in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the last time he will work personally on the annual project
- Jan 2021 – The Carters miss President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the first they haven’t attended since Carter’s own in 1977
- Feb 2023 – Carter enters home hospice care after several short hospital stays
- Jul 2023 – The Carters celebrate their 77th and final wedding anniversary
- Nov 2023 – Rosalynn dies at home
- Oct 2024 – Carter becomes the first former US president to reach age 100. That same month, he casts a Georgia mail ballot for Democrat Kamala Harris
- Dec 2024 – Carter dies at home. His funeral is held the following month in Washington DC
Wood identified a key dynamic between Trump and his former Vice President Mike Pence just by looking at their handshake.
She noticed that Trump’s thumb placement on his former running mate’s hand is “oddly placed and angular,” leading her to dub it a “dig handshake” meant to hurt Pence.
“He’s actually digging in to that fairly sensitive area between the forefinger and thumb of Pence,” Wood explained.
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She added that Pence responded to the dig with a “shield movement,” by placing his hands, with curled fingers, in front of his ventral front, which is the most vulnerable part of the body.
“We’re seeing his desire and need to protect himself as he interacts with Trump and shakes hands with him,” Wood said.
“Something else is going on.”
Wood said by digging into his hand, Trump meant to assert himself as the “top dog” or alpha male in a move meant to “hurt” Pence.
In this situation, [Trump is] nonverbally making an effort to lean over into [Obama] and to talk to him and joke around with him.”
Patti Wood
She added that Pence’s expression, which is a bit of a glare with tense eyebrows, seems to be set in what could be 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 winning the 2020 election, Pence took a swipe at his former boss by certifying Biden’s presidential electoral votes.
‘GLOWERING’ MELANIA
Pence isn’t the only one who appeared to be put off by Trump at the funeral as Wood also said Melania seemed unhappy to be there.
She said the former and returning first lady had a “glowering” and “angry” expression that was amplified by her arms and legs that were pressed tightly together.
Wood said over the years, Melania’s body language has become more “reserved, more tight, more stiff, more sharp-edged – and the sharp edges especially indicate anger.”
Wood said Melania’s stiffness indicated “no cues that she wants to be seen as his partner” or that she didn’t want to comfort Trump at the funeral.
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Meanwhile, next to her, Trump seemed to be relaxed and comfortable as he shared a joke with former President Barack Obama.
As Trump leaned in to laugh with Obama, whose wife Michelle was the only former first lady missing from the funeral, Wood said Obama had control of the conversation.
“Trump is the one that is leaning in the most,” Wood explained.
“He is expending the most energy to get closer to Obama.
“In this situation, he’s nonverbally making an effort to lean over into him and to talk to him and joke around with him.”
It’s unclear what Trump and Obama were speaking about at the funeral.
After the service, Carter will be returned to his home state of Georgia to be buried next to his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter, in his hometown
“I miss him, but I take solace in knowing that he and his beloved Rosalynn are reunited again,” Biden said during his eulogy.
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