Michelle Obama Slams Trump For "Bragging About Sexually Assaulting Women"
The first lady blasted the presidential nominee for "speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior."
In an impassioned speech Thursday, Michelle Obama blasted Donald Trump for "bragging about sexually assaulting women" — referring to a 2005 video in which the Republican presidential nominee was caught on a hot mic saying he kissed and grabbed women "by the pussy" without their consent.
While campaigning for Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, the first lady condemned Trump's comments in the video and said it was not an "isolated incident."
"Last week we saw this candidate actually bragging about sexually assaulting women," Obama said. "I can't stop thinking about this. It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn't have predicted."
She said that his behavior was not "something that we can ignore."
"Because this was not just a lewd conversation," she said. "This wasn't just locker room banter. This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior and actually bragging about kissing and groping women using language so obscene that many of us were worried about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV."
Obama said that it was "very clear" that Trump's comments in 2005 were not "an isolated incident."
"It's one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life," she said.
"The fact is that in this election we have a candidate for president of the United States, who over the course of his lifetime, and the course of this campaign, has said things about women that are so shocking, so demeaning, that I simply will not repeat anything here today," she said.
She also spoke emotionally of the personal impact his comments had on her and other women.
"The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect. The belief that you can do anything you want to a woman? It's cruel. It's frightening. And the truth is, it hurts."
She said it was how women felt when they were catcalled on the street, or sexually harassed in the workplace, or sexually assaulted on college campuses.
"It's that feeling of terror and violation that too many women have felt when someone grabbed them or forced himself on that and they said 'no' but he didn't listen," she said.
