Trump criticises TV debate moderator Lester Holt

The moderator of Monday night's televised US presidential debate has been criticised by candidate Donald Trump of being harsher on him than his opponent Hillary Clinton.

Clinton appeared to be more assured on the platform than Trump did in Long Island, but he accused Lester Holt of failing to ask her some of the tougher questions about her campaign.

"He didn't ask her about the emails, he didn't ask her about the scandals, he didn't ask her about the Benghazi deal," Trump said. "He didn't ask her about a lot of things he should have asked her about. Why?"

Opinion polls released after the debate showed mxed results, with some showing a close result, while others showed comfortable victories for both Clinton and Trump.

Initially, Trump said that Holt did a "good job" on hosting the national debate, before changing his tune on Tuesday morning on US programme Fox and Friends.

"You look at it, you watch the last four questions, he hit me on birther, he hit me on a housing deal from many years ago, that I settled on with no recourse and no guilt..that's a beauty to be asked, a 40-year-old lawsuit."

Democrat Clinton appears to have gained an advantage over her Republican rival following Monday's debate, but there is still plenty of time for Trump to regain ground, with further debates scheduled for 9 October and 19 October, ahead of the crucial election on 8 November.