Hollywood Sound Pros Didn’t Hear Problems With Donald Trump’s Mic During Debate

When Donald Trump’s apparent sniffling throughout Monday’s presidential debate caused #trumpsniff to quickly spread on Twitter, the Republican candidate was quick to blame a bad mic — but seasoned Hollywood sound pros that spoke with The Hollywood Reporter disagreed. 

“Clearly there was nothing wrong with the microphone and it reproduced what it heard,” asserted one veteran sound pro. “A bad microphone is such a childish excuse that preys on a layman’s insecurity with these matters.”

Others agreed that they didn’t hear any mic issues during the broadcast. “There were no issues that I experienced,” an Academy Award-winner from the sound community said, speculating “what I believe took place was his personal experience in the room was probably different and he made the assumption that everyone heard what he was hearing.”

Said another: “He could have had issues hearing himself that could have been cutting in on him. I didn’t hear an issue on the broadcast.There could have been an issue within the room, such as a bad cable or the audio signal path, that may not have come through on the broadcast, although that is unlikely.”

Speaking on Fox & Friends this morning, Trump reiterated claim he made in the spin room after the debate, saying, “My microphone was terrible. I wonder, was it set up that way on purpose? I don’t want to believe in conspiracy theories, of course, but it was much lower than hers and it was crackling, and she didn’t have that problem.”

He denied sniffling at the debate, saying, “The mic was very bad, but maybe it was good enough to hear breathing, but there was no sniffles.”

When Hillary Clinton was asked about his microphone comments, she quipped, “Anybody who complains about the microphone is not having a good night.”