Donald Trump Blames Debate Performance on ‘Defective’ Microphone

Of all the explanations for Donald Trump’s consensus debate loss on Monday night, no one thought to blame his microphone.

Well, no one beside Donald Trump.

During a post-debate interview in the spin room following the GOP nominee’s first presidential showdown with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, Trump said, “They also had — they gave me a defective mic,” according to CBS News reporter Sopan Deb.

His account was echoed in an Associated Press report that said Trump “wonder(ed), was that on purpose?”

Trump has suggested for months, during the Republican primary and since, that the political machines on both sides have conspired to torpedo his candidacy, calling the system “rigged.”

“Nov. 8, we’d better be careful, because that election is going to be rigged,” Trump said at a rally in Columbus, Ohio on Aug. 1. “People are going to walk in and they’re going to vote 10 times, maybe, who knows?”

His and Clinton’s performances, not surprisingly, were the subject of great debate on Monday night, with a plurality of observers declaring Clinton the winner. A poll of debate watchers conducted by CNN/ORC scored the event 62 percent for Clinton to just 27 percent for Trump.

A similar poll administrated by Public Policy Polling was much closer, but still awarded the night to Clinton, 51 to 40.

Fox News’ pundits noted that Trump started strong, but his performance quickly devolved, with media critic Howie Kurtz noting, “Clinton has spent most of the evening on offense.”