DETROIT—Closely analyzing his soft whimpers and the pained expressions on his tear-streaked face, body language experts on various political news sites provided nuanced insight into the meaning of Marco Rubio’s loud sobbing during Thursday night’s Republican debate. “If you take a look at the way Rubio has spent the majority of the debate with his head buried in his hands, only pausing his bawling to occasionally wipe the tears and mucus off his face—that’s a clear indication of disappointment, quite possibly over his recent showing on Super Tuesday,” wrote longtime political pundit Karen Stetler in a post on Politico, noting that the candidate’s audible dry-heaving likely revealed that he was somewhat nervous about his path to the nomination. “At one point, he curled up on the floor behind his podium to hide from the crowd’s view and continued crying while pulling at his hair. While this could merely be a personal tic, it seems likelier that he was displaying some level of personal discomfort about where he stands among the remaining Republican field.” When the Florida senator later responded to a question by staring blankly down at his lectern for a full minute before walking slowly off the stage, experts were quick to note the gesture may have lost him the debate.

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