“Body Language” v. Rhetorical Tic

"You know."

'You know, it wasn't clear to us that President Zelensky was ready to negotiate in good faith towards an end to this war," Waltz accused. "You know, for us, kind of talking about the details and demands of security guarantees before, as President Trump said, 'Look, I don't know that we can get both sides to the table at this point.' And, you know, you can't kind of trash the other side going, you know, litigating through the history of this conflict."

"Coming to the Oval Office, uh, you know, with the body language, the shaking of his head, the, you know, the kind of the arms crossed, uh, we just it we found it incredibly disrespectful," he continued. "We were ready to sign that deal."

Body language analysis is claptrap, but the repeated use of  “you know” sends a definite message of uncertainty and desperately seeking confirmation.

The Administration in a nutshell. You know.