Nearly a week after the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, the Commission on Presidential Debates released a one-sentence statement Friday, saying that there "were issues regarding Donald Trump's audio that affected the sound level in the debate hall."
The CPD did not specify what the issues were, when they occurred, or if they affected the audio for the more than 80 million people watching the debate from outside the debate hall, on their televisions. The CPD did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' request for further information.
Immediately after the first debate, Trump told press that his mic had been "defective" and suggested that it may have been purposeful sabotage.
In the week following, he brought up the theory on multiple occasions, including during a phone interview with Fox and Friends on Tuesday.
“My microphone ― in the room they couldn’t hear me ... I wonder if it was set up that way,” Trump said. “I don’t want to believe in conspiracy theories of course but it was much lower than [Hillary Clinton's] and it was crackling."
Trump went on to suggest that the microphone issues were what caused what sounded like his much-mocked, repeated sniffing noises throughout the debate.
“No sniffles, no,” he said. “The mic was very bad, but maybe it was good enough to hear breathing.”
Trump took to Twitter on Saturday after learning the CPD commented on the audio.
The so-called Commission on Presidential Debates admitted to us that the DJT audio & sound level was very bad. So why didn't they fix it?
To reporters who were present in the audience at the debate, Trump's audio sounded slightly more quiet at the beginning of some of his answers, though the volume issues seemed to be quickly amended, CNN reported.
The audience reacted to Trump's comments — specifically when he suggested that his temperament was one of his "greatest assets" and the audience audibly laughed in reaction — suggesting that they were in fact able to hear his answers.
The PA system in the debate hall and the TV broadcast audio were operated separately. There were no apparent complaints of audio issues from television viewers during the debates.
When asked about Trump's microphone complaints after the debates, Clinton responded, “Anybody who complains about the microphone is not having a good night."
Hillary finishes press gaggle on her plane, walks away, stops, turns around, comes back, twists the knife.