After Record-Shattering Debate, Donald Trump Goes on the Attack and Hillary Clinton Takes a Victory Lap

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both hit the campaign trail after Monday night's presidential debate

Photo: Getty (2)

Donald Trump‘s camp argued that he “demonstrated restraint” during the first presidential debate on Monday night – but the GOP nominee came out swinging the following day.

In a Fox and Friends appearance on Tuesday morning, Trump doubled down on his criticism of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado’s weight after Hillary Clinton derided his past comments as an example of his disrespect towards women.

“She was the winner, and she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem,” Trump said of Machado on Tuesday. “Hillary went back into the years and she found this – this was many years ago – and found the girl, and talked about her like she was Mother Teresa, and it wasn’t quite that way, and that’s okay, Hillary has to do what she has to do.”

While Trump seemed upset that Clinton “hit me at the end with the women,” he congratulated himself for not bringing up former President Bill Clinton’s past "transgressions" – until he did bring it up, several times after the debate.

“I was going to hit her with her husband’s women and I decided I shouldn’t do it … I didn’t feel comfortable doing it with Chelsea [Clinton] in the room,” Trump said, echoing comments he made Monday night in the “spin room.” “I think Chelsea’s a fine young lady.”

RELATED Trump: Machado’s Weight Gain a ‘Real Problem’

Trump also suggested that someone might have tampered with his microphone and accused moderator Lester Holt of asking him “unfair” and “hostile” questions, and of failing to ask his opponent similarly hard-hitting questions during the debate, which drew a record-breaking 83 million viewers and counting. (The 1980 debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan had 80 million viewers.)

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“He didn’t ask her about the emails at all. He didn’t ask her about her scandals. He didn’t ask her about the Benghazi deal that she destroyed,” Trump said. “He didn’t ask her about a lot of things she should have been asked about. There’s no question about it. He didn’t ask about her foundation.”

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Added Trump, “He gave me very unfair questions at the end, the last three, four questions, but I’m not complaining about that. I thought he was okay.”

As for his microphone, Trump said, “It was on and off and 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.” (Trump said the microphone tested fine before the debate, according to CBS News.)

Clinton mocked Trump’s microphone complaints while speaking to reporters on board her campaign plane en route to Raleigh, North Carolina, on Tuesday morning, saying, “Anybody who complains about the microphone is not having a good night.”

Clinton added that she had a “great, great time” at the debate and said she was looking forward to facing off against Trump again in the remaining two debates. “One of my favorite baseball players growing up, Ernie Banks, used to get so excited about going to play that he’d say ‘let’s play two.’ I’m looking forward to the next debate and the one after that.”

Meanwhile, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump surrogate, suggested Monday night that Trump shouldn’t even bother to show up to the next two debates. “If I were Donald Trump I wouldn’t participate in another debate unless I was promised that the journalist would act like a journalist and not an incorrect, ignorant fact checker,” Giuliani said. “The moderator would have to promise that there would be a moderator and not a fact checker and in two particular cases an enormously ignorant, completely misinformed fact checker.”

Both candidates were back on the campaign trail the morning after the debates, with Clinton heading to Raleigh and Trump traveling to Miami, where he was set to meet with 150 South Florida Latinos during a town hall-style event.

At an afternoon rally, Clinton criticized Trump’s debate performance, saying, “He made very clear that he didn’t prepare for that debate. Just trying to keep track of everything he says took a lot of time.”

“What I’ve heard from my opponent is dangerously incoherent,” she added of his comments on foreign policy, according to the local newspaper The News & Observer. “It’s unclear exactly what he’s saying.”

Clinton also celebrated the night as a win on Instagram, posting a photo of herself with her husband and daughter backstage at the debate. “When you have a really, really good night. #SheWon,” read the caption.