from what i remember, they are coached to do it because pointing is seen as too aggressive but not making any hand gestures is too robotic. so its a way to make a non-aggressive emphatic hand gesture.

It's one of many gestures that are used by trained public speakers as non-verbal communication cues. Here are some examples, including the one you asked about: https://qz.com/work/1093701/a-guide-to-ted-talk-hands-seven-signature-moves

There are many more beyond those. Using hand gestures in public speaking has been around since at least classical times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chironomia

They are taught by "experts" that pointing is an ugly aggressive hand gesture.

Its what you do when you naturally want to point but dont want to be seen as rude and aggressive.

They all go to Ivy League colleges, and they all take the same public speaking classes.

It's a big club, but we're not in it.

It's the I'm-pointing-at-you-with-a-pen-but-I-forgot-my-pen gesture.

If you work for a large company, ask around if there is a toastmasters group. If so join it and you will be let in on all the secrets of public speaking.

It's a wand. They are actually enchanting you, the first spell always makes the wand invisible. That's why you never see it.

trump and his accordion hands are very noticible, especially when he has to make a lie on the spot.

Oh that?

Thats the motion you make when fanning through dollar bills, one handed, to count em.

They're doing a pavlovian reflex everytime they need to remind themselves where their money comes from, and how its time to focus in on delivering shareholder lobbyist value.

Remember Biden's "I did that!" (lying) stickers that were placed on gas pumps by maga freaks? It's trivial to put your political opponent in an ad where they are saying something they're not, because pointing is seen as an aggressive gesture by the people coaching them for speeches, debates, etc. So they do the silly thumb-point for emphasis recommended by political strategists...

It’s not a fishing rod, it’s something much more personal

their fishing rods are invisible for you? including the hook and line? that must be rough. how do you avoid getting caught when you can't even see them?

It's more of a public speaker thing than just a politician thing, but... Well, politicians are all public speakers, so it makes sense that that's the context you've seen it in.

It's literally a practiced gesture - public speaking makes use of some gestures that telegraph well to crowds, but seem unusual otherwise. IIRC, that fishing rod grip is an alternative to gesturing with a fist - it looks less aggressive, but gets the point across.

Trump just channels his childhood accordion lessons. He doesn't even realize he's doing it.

There are very few configurations of the hand and fingers that aren't offensive to someone. This one is one of the last few remaining, with "thousand points o' laght", a list that doesn't include "yuge" or the double "okay" sign.

So everyone does it.

I always thought it was so comedians can do impressions of them.

You have to do something with your hand. This one's pretty neutral, because it's nothing.

Public speaking is a performance and like any performance some people are good at it and some become good at it and some aren't really good at it.

Jerking themselves off to the idea of fucking their citizens over

Esoterically speaking, it is a modification of the sign of the fig—a vaginal hand symbol indicating that you are creating with your words. The traditional sign of the fig has the thumb placed between the index and middle finger, which you see Bill Clinton do a lot. Others put the thumb on top, I imagine for plausible deniability of being satanic or something. The gesture is very old, going back to Ancient Greece or earlier.

Historically, politicians have been influenced by groups such as the Masons and the Rosicrucians who would have been aware of the meaning of these gestures, and then it filters down over time to become standard political gestures for people who aren’t aware of their origin.

It's so other lizard people know.

They learn it at The Bohemian Grove.

Bill Clinton started it. Drives chicks crazy.

i think they just want to be a kpop star 🤩🥰

They are trying to appear human. Somehow that seems to involve catching invisible fish.

It's so they don't point their finger and wag or shake a fist while they are taking. It is seen as a less offensive gesture to people watching body language.

It’s all about portraying authority and trying to give off the “trust me” vibe.

I’d love to see an interviewer respond with a bizarre hand gesture in response.

You got me thinking. Pretty sure I do this when addressing groups, like teaching a class in the workplace. Maybe I finger point in place of the fishing rod? Next time I hold a talk, I'm going to record it.

The "counting money" gesture? You still have to ask this?

"People who are more emotive with their gestures than me must be fake"

"People who are less emotive with their gestures than me are robotic lol"

Most people hold both of those views but have wildly different levels of emotiveness... The result? Posts like this

It's rude to point, and they all have arthritis.

In my non edumacated knowledge, they pretend to whip the heard into believing what they spew.

It's a conductor's baton.

My guess is that they're accustomed to holding note cards and it's just a reflexive stance after a while

It's a natural resting form for our lizardian overlords.

Because concertina hands are too nazi-ish

Air-dicking is a hard practice to break free from, ig... easier to retrain into air-fishing

Gesticulation has long been a part of public speaker training.

It helps frame your words and your message and also direct meaning in a way that punctuation does in the written word.

As punctuation is to reading, as gesticulation is to speaking.

It's part of body language being part of speaking to someone (a person or an audience) and can help people relate to the speaker.

That particular gesture was famously popularized/lampooned due to Bill Clinton

the slang term used to be 'thumb wrestling' and the politicians were called thumb wrestlers when they did it.

It's zuck's new toy /s