Michelle Obama gave a powerful speech on Thursday condemning Donald Trump's offensive treatment of women and urging women to vote for Hillary Clinton. During a campaign event in New Hampshire, the first lady got emotional while saying it was a "rough week" in the election.
She spoke of the now-infamous leaked audio of Trump bragging about sexual assault to Billy Bush in 2005 and said, "It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn't have predicted." Obama also said Trump's behavior was unacceptable and that it was not something we could ignore or brush off as "another disturbing footnote in the election." Watch her speech starting at the 25-minute mark above.
"This wasn't just locker room banter," she said about Trump's excuse for his comments. "This was a powerful individual speaking openly and freely about sexually predatory behavior. . . . 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, adding that many women knew the feeling from walking down the street and being catcalled or dealing with a co-worker's unwanted advances.
Michelle Obama: "This was not just a lewd conversation. This wasn’t locker room banter." bit.ly/cdvtrM
True to form, Obama never used Trump's name — but she didn't have to in order to get her point across. "This is not normal, this is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful, this is intolerable," she said. "This isn't about politics — it's about basic human decency, it's about right and wrong. Now is the time for all of us to stand up and say enough is enough."
With that, she urged the audience, specifically women, to vote for Hillary Clinton next month. "Today, we as women have all the power we need to determine the power of this election. We have knowledge, we have a voice, we have a vote." she said. "On Nov. 8 we have the power to show our children that America's greatest comes from recognizing the innate dignity and worth of all our people."
