US first lady Michelle Obama has called Donald Trump's bragging about sexual assault "disgraceful" and said that it had "shaken me to my core" coming from a candidate running for the US presidency.
The first lady delivered an emotional and very personal stump speech addressing the Republican nominee's remarks in the leaked 2005 recording that brought US presidential campaign to new depths and turned the race for the White House into a nasty, insult-fueled contest.
"Enough is enough, this has got to stop right now," Mrs Obama said at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire in support of the Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Mr Trump defended his vulgar comments, caught on tape while he filmed an appearance on the “Access Hollywood” entertainment show, as “locker-room talk” and apologised “if anyone was offended.”
In her impassioned remarks, the first lady rejected Mr Trump’s dismissal of his remarks as “lewd conversation” or “locker room banter.”
“This is a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behaviour,” she said.
Shocking and demeaning
Mrs Obama said the Republican nominee had said things about women over the course of his lifetime and during his campaign that are “so shocking and demeaning.” She did not mention Mr Trump by name during her speech, referring to him as the “candidate” or “Hillary’s opponent”.
"I can't believe that I am saying that a candidate for the president of the United States has bragged about sexually assaulting women and I have to tell you that I can't stop thinking about this," she said.
“It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted. So while I’d love nothing more to pretend like this is not happening and to come out here and do my normal campaign speech, it would be dishonest and disingenuous of me to move on to the next thing like this was all a bad dream.”
She quoted a story she heard from the mother of a six-year-old talking about the presidential election who said: “You can’t be president if you call someone a piggy”
This was a reference to the New York businessman calling former beauty contestant Alicia Machado "Miss Piggy" because she put on weight after winning his Miss Universe pageant.
“This is not normal. This is not politics as usual,” said Mrs Obama, in one of her most powerful speeches delivered on the campaign trail. “This is disgraceful. This is intolerable.”
The popular first lady has been one of Mrs Clinton’s most effective campaigners in addressing the misogynistic language of the Republican nominee and winning over younger voters with whom the Democratic nominee has struggled.
Mrs Clinton tweeted after Ms Obama’s speech that she was “in awe” and thanked her for “putting into words what’s in so many of our hearts”.
