Was the microphone malfunctioning, or was the MC biased, putting Trump at a disadvantage?

Republican candidate Donald Trump said the organizers gave him a broken microphone to use during the first debate with opponent Hillary Clinton.

Republican candidate Donald Trump speaks to the press after the debate. Photo: AP.

Speaking to reporters immediately after the debate ended, billionaire Donald Trump accused the organizers of deliberately giving him a faulty microphone, according to Le Monde.

"I wonder if this was accidental," Trump emphasized.

In addition, the real estate billionaire criticized the moderator for being biased towards Clinton. The debate moderator was accused of focusing only on issues unfavorable to Donald Trump, while ignoring Hillary Clinton's scandals.

Lester Holt, who moderated the first Trump-Clinton debate. Photo: NBC.

Lester Holt, 57, is a renowned American journalist who has worked for major programs such as NBC's Dateline and Today. His current role is as the host of NBC's Nightly News, which attracts millions of viewers each night.

He was accused of political bias a week before the debate. Trump called him a Democrat and complained about the "unfair system." But voter background checks revealed that Holt was actually a registered Republican.

The Heat Street Journal noted that during the debate, Trump not only had to contend with Clinton, but also with Holt.

This page states that Holt did not ask about Clinton's email scandal, the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, during her time as US Secretary of State, and the Clinton Foundation (Clinton is suspected of favoring supporters of the foundation).

Meanwhile, Holt consistently delves into issues unfavorable to Trump, such as the billionaire's doubts about President Obama's birthplace, his opinions on women, his bankruptcies, his failure to release tax records, and a host of other issues.

Mr. Holt also attempted several times to verify the accuracy of some of Mr. Trump's points, such as the billionaire's claim that he opposed the Iraq War. Mr. Holt repeatedly tried to interrupt Mr. Trump to interject, but usually without success.

Near the end of the debate, Holt asked Trump what he meant by saying Clinton "doesn't have the look of a president." Holt did this after emphasizing that Clinton had become the first woman chosen as a presidential nominee by a major party, thus implicitly suggesting that Trump was being sexist. When Trump responded, Holt interrupted and then gave Clinton the opportunity to counter the billionaire's previous comments about women.

"Lester Holt clearly favored Clinton," Tim Clark, Trump's campaign manager, wrote on Twitter.

"Almost all of Holt's efforts to dig deeper and verify the facts were aimed at Trump, not Clinton," commented Howard Kurtz, a Fox News anchor.

A graphic from Vox shows that during the debate, Clinton was interrupted 70 times, but the majority of interruptions came from Trump (51 times), while Holt only interrupted her 19 times. When Trump spoke, Holt interrupted him 30 times, while Hillary only interrupted her opponent 17 times.

The number of times the two candidates were interrupted during the debate. Graphic: Vox.

"No mention of the email scandal. No mention of the Clinton Foundation being bribed. And no mention of the Benghazi incident," Trump wrote on Twitter after the debate.

However, when questioned by reporters at the debate venue, Trump praised Holt.

"I think Lester Holt is doing a good job," the billionaire said.

According to VNE