The general consensus in the polls and media is Hillary Clinton won the first presidential debate against Donald Trump. But Trump doesn’t agree with the consensus. And to the extent it’s right, he already came up with an excuse to explain his potential loss: It was the microphone.
Trump first voiced the excuse almost immediately after the debate ended — in the so-called “spin room”: “They also gave me a defective mic. Did you notice that? My mic was defective within the room. … I wonder, was that on purpose?” He later told Fox and Friends, “When I tested it, it was beautiful — like an hour before. I said, ‘What a great mic.’ … It was much lower than hers. I don’t want to believe in conspiracy theories, of course, but it was much lower than hers and it was crackling, and she didn’t have that problem.”
The Daily Show host Trevor Noah mocked Trump: “Yeah, I don’t want to be the guy who believes in conspiracies. Not me. Not me. I mean, I’m not the guy who chased the birther conspiracy.” He added, “Donald Trump blaming the microphone. Donald Trump sounds like my cousin who never accepts that I kicked his ass in Xbox. That’s what he’s doing. ‘The only reason you beat me, Trevor, is because the controller doesn’t work!’”
Like with many other Trumpisms, there seemed to be a self-contradiction in Trump’s microphone conspiracy. In explaining the many times he sniffled at the debate to Fox and Friends, Trump said, “No sniffles. No. You know, the mic was very bad, but maybe it was good enough to hear breathing.”
“The truth is Trump’s mic was actually worse,” Noah quipped. “It was worse than bad. It was so bad that it was good.”
Trump’s visit to the spin room was also unique — surrogates usually talk to press there after debates to speak on their candidate’s behalf, but Monday was the first time an actual presidential candidate appeared there after a debate.
“I know that if Trump becomes president, there’s a high possibility he’ll destroy the world. But you have to appreciate these moments,” Noah said. “The man was spinning for himself. That’s the equivalent of giving a wedding toast at your own wedding. Just standing up and being like, ‘Let me tell you about the first time I met me, folks.’”
