The Latest: Trump suggests he was given bad microphone

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. presidential race (all times EDT):

7:40 a.m.

Donald Trump is floating the theory that debate moderators gave him a bad microphone on purpose.

Trump says his mic at Monday’s debate was “terrible.” He’s blaming it for what some listeners thought were sniffles by Trump during the debate.

Trump said Tuesday on “Fox and Friends” that it was going on and off and that his volume was lower than Hillary Clinton’s microphone.

Trump tells Fox News he wonders “whether that wasn’t set up that way on purpose.” He says “I don’t want to believe in conspiracy theories, but it was much lower than hers.”

Trump campaign manager Kellyann Conway told CNN that she heard from audience members that his mic sounded off. She said that from where she sat backstage, the mic sounded fine.

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7:20 a.m.

Donald Trump says it was a “real problem” when the 1996 Miss Universe gained significant weight after winning the pageant that he formerly owned.

Trump is responding to Hillary Clinton’s reference in the first debate to Alicia Machado’s claim that Trump called her “Miss Piggy” when she gained weight. In the debate, Trump repeatedly challenged Clinton over where she had heard that.

But Trump told “Fox and Friends” on Tuesday that Machado was “the worst we ever had,” referring to past winners of the pageant.

Trump says, “She gained a massive amount of weight. It was a real problem. We had a real problem.”

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3:45 a.m.

Donald Trump aggressively tried to pin the nation’s economic and national security problems on Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate, belittling the former senator and secretary of state as a “typical politician” incapable of delivering the change many Americans crave.

But Trump found himself on the defensive for much of the 90-minute showdown Monday night. Clinton was thoroughly prepared, not only with detailed answers about her own policy proposals, but also sharp criticism of Trump’s business record, his past statements about women, and his false assertions that President Barack Obama may not have been born in the United States.

The Democrat also blasted Trump for his refusal to release his tax returns, breaking with decades of presidential campaign tradition.