'Cruel and frightening' Michelle Obama launches TIRADE at Trump over leaked tapes
MICHELLE OBAMA delivered a powerful blow to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign after she denounced the Republican candidate's alleged misconduct and past comments.
Michelle Obama's POWERFUL speech on Trump's sexism
The first lady hit out at Mr Trump’s rhetoric branding him “cruel”, “frightening” and beyond the “basic standards of human decency”.
This came as another blow to Mr Trump’s campaign after he received heavy criticism following a series of leaked audio tapes show him making lewd and derogatory remarks about female TV personalities.
Footage showed the businessman bragging about how he made a pass at a married woman, saying: “I moved on her like a b****, but I couldn’t there… and she was married.”
Mr Trump and TV star Billy Bush were discussing Celebrity Apprentice when the comments were about made about TV host Nancy O’Dell before moving on to discuss actress Arianne Zucker.
It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted
Speaking at a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton, Mrs Obama said: “I can’t believe that I’m saying that a candidate for president of the United States has bragged about sexually assaulting women.
“And I can’t stop thinking about this. It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted.
This is not normal, this is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful, it is intolerable and it doesn’t matter what party you belong to… No woman deserves to be treated this way – none of us deserves this kind of abuse.”
During the most recent televised debate, moderators Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz grilled the Republican candidate on his comments, which included remarks about grouping women.
In response, Mr Trump replied: “No, I didn’t say that at all. I don’t think you understand what was said.
“This was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it. I apologise to my family, I apologise to the American people.”
Despite his televised apology, Mrs Obama refused to accept his response.
She added: “This wasn’t just a lewd conversation. This wasn’t just locker room banter.
"This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behaviour and actually bragging about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV.
“To make matters worse, it now seems very clear that this isn’t an isolated incident. It’s one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life.”
After the events Mrs Clinton is now enjoying a strong lead in the latest polls after spending weeks tied neck-and-neck with Mr Trump.
Her chances were boosted after a strong performance in the televised debates, while Mr Trump has been knocked back after footage which showed him making the lewd comments.
The property mogul’s rare apology was not enough to stop the bookmakers making his rival a heavy favour to secure the White House.
Comparison website, Oddschecker now has the Democrat candidate at 1/7, while Mr Trump’s odds have lengthened to 5/1.