Amid a growing consensus in both parties that Hillary Clinton got the better of Donald Trump in the first presidential debate Monday night, the GOP nominee has been busy floating excuses while maintaining that his performance was “big-league.” Here’s a brief timeline of his blame game over the past 36 hours:Monday night in Spin Alley following the debate:“And they also had — gave me a defective mic. Did you notice that? My mic was defective within the room.”Tuesday morning on “Fox and Friends”:“I had some hostile questions, but that’s OK. I thought it went really well… [Moderator Lester Holt] didn’t ask [Clinton] about a lot of things she should have been asked about…. When they were asking unfair questions, she got better.”Then…“When she hit me at the end with the women, I was going to hit her with her husband’s women, and I decided I shouldn’t do it because her daughter was in the room.”Then….“I really eased up because I didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.”Then…“My microphone was terrible…when I tested it, it was beautiful, like an hour before. I said, ‘What a great mic.’”Then…“I don’t like to grade myself, but I know I did better than Hillary. In every poll, it’s shown that I did better.”Tuesday midday at a scripted town hall in Miami:“I think we did very well. We won every poll. Virtually every poll — except for CNN…. No one watched CNN.Tuesday night at a rally in Melbourne, Florida:“I was holding back; I didn’t want to do anything to embarrass her.”Then…“Without the mainstream media, folks, [Clinton] wouldn’t even be here. She wouldn’t even have a chance.”Or maybe the former reality television star had a case of stage fright?“I knew I was going into a situation where you were going to have one of the largest audiences in television history, and I took a deep breath and I pretended I was talking to my family.”Trump may have some new excuses ready when he gives rallies in Iowa and Wisconsin later today. The next presidential debate is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 9, in St. Louis.
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