Donald Trump makes his height a campaign argument
The American President uses a strategy to demean his opponents: he criticizes their height, recalling his stature of 1.90 m.
When Donald Trump (literally) demeans his enemies by mocking their stature, he turns his size into a weapon and reminds us that in American politics the great tend to win. The American president, who is said to be 1m90, regularly taunts the height of Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg, whose medical certificate estimates his height at 1m70.
" Small "
But in his tweets and interviews, Donald Trump takes away 10 centimeters from him, dressing up this other New York billionaire - who is much richer than him - with the unflattering nickname of "mini Mike".
He also called many chosen ones little, when they were not even. He had also looked very upset when Republican Senator Marco Rubio attacked the size of his (deemed small) hands in the 2016 primary, prompting him to say he had no problem with height.
This is not typical of what presidents do, says Gregg Murray, professor of political science, who has studied the role of height in the vote of Americans.
A weapon
Playing on his stature can be a weapon like any other during an election period - a bigger stature that can reflect more strength - but Donald Trump has his own way of doing it, adds this professor at the University of Augusta. , Georgia.
The last presidents (Barack Obama, George Bush and his son, Bill Clinton and even Ronald Reagan) were all over six feet tall and the subject seems to be of public interest.
During a primary debate in 2016, one of the top searches on Google was not about the program but about the height of one of the Republican candidates (Jeb Bush, son and brother of leaders. 6 feet, if you were wondering) .
There is ample evidence that tall people are more likely to get a bigger job in an organization, regardless of country, says Abraham Buunk, a Dutch scholar who wrote a 2013 study on the height of US presidents.
According to his study, the advantage of the great candidates is arguably a matter of perception: taller presidents are rated by experts as 'better' presidents and as having more leadership and communication skills.
Buunk says the idea of studying this aspect of the life of US presidents came to him when a Canadian scholar - who thought he was grown up - came to the Netherlands on exchange and felt like he was average. We decided to look at the psychological effects of pruning, starting with jealousy, he said.
According to research by Gregg Murray, the US election between 1789 and 2012 - in which only men stood - the taller of the two candidates won 58 percent of the time. And 67% of the times he won the popular vote.
Tall men, in general, think they are better qualified than others to lead and therefore tend to put themselves forward, he analyzes.
Women generally shorter than their male rivals are disabled, he argues, since they don't look physically impressive, while voters often seek out-of-the-ordinary candidates. This year, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren stands out thanks to her 72 meter, taller than the average woman.
But there are exceptions. Moderate young Democrat Pete Buttigieg does not appear to be handicapped by his shorter height than the average American male (1.75m) as of yet.
And the numbers can lie. The 190 centimeters claimed by Donald Trump could be two centimeters exaggerated, if his passport is to be believed. For example, photos from the 2016 Republican debates showed him clearly smaller - by little, but still - than Jeb Bush.
