Republican nominee Donald Trump on Thursday night claimed that the first presidential debate held on Monday, September 26, was rigged. "I had to put up with the anchor and fight the anchor all the time on everything I said...What a rigged deal," he said, while speaking to supporters at a rally in New Hampshire, USA Today reported.

The event was hosted by Lester Holt of NBC News at at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York. While Trump praised Holt and claimed to have bagged the first debate soon after it ended, his criticism of the anchor comes amid analyst reports that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton had won the first fight.

The real estate magnate's campaign also emailed Trump supporters seeking inputs on how to prepare for the second debate on October 9 at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. "The next debate against Hillary Clinton is just 10 days away. I need your immediate feedback from the first debate in order to win the second one," the email said.

The first debate in New York, which attracted worldwide interest, lived up to expectations of high drama. Millions of viewers from across the world watched the televised Clinton-Trump debate as they discussed economic policies, tax rates and the Islamic State group. It was not long into the 90-minute tussle that the two White House contenders got personal. They also locked horns over the allegedly deteriorating law and order situation across the US.