October 13, 2016

Michelle Obama's speech starts at approximately the 25:15 mark.

WHOA. Michelle Obama appeared at a campaign rally in New Hampshire this morning, and just destroyed Donald Trump. It was a thing of grace and beauty. Transcript:

Now here I am, out on the campaign trail in an election where we have consistently been hurting hateful language about women. Language painful for so many of us. Not just as women but as parents trying to protect our children and raise them to be caring respectful adults. Who think our nation's leader should meet basic standards of human decency.

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. I simply will not repeat anything here today.

And last week we saw this candidate actually bragging about sexually assaulting women. And 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 have to tell you that I can't stop thinking about this.

It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn't have predicted.

So while I'd love nothing more than to pretend like this isn't happening and come out here and do my normal campaign speech, it would be dishonest and disingenuous for me to move on to the next thing like this was just a bad dream.

This is not something we can ignore. It's not something we can sweep under the rug as just another disturbing footnote in a sad election season. Because this was not just a lewd conversation.

This wasn't 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 are worried about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV.

To make matters worse it now seems clear this isn't an isolated incident. It's one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life.

I have to tell you that I listened to all this. And I feel it so personally.

And I'm sure that many of you do too. Particularly the 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 is cruel. It is frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It hurts. It's like that sick sinking feeling you get when you're walking down the street minding your own business and some guy yells out vulgar words about your body. Or when you see that guy at work that stands just a little too close, stares just a little too long, you feel uncomfortable in your own skin.

It's that feeling of terror and violation that too many women have felt when someone has grabbed them or forced himself on them and they've said no but he didn't listen. Something that we know happens on college campuses and countless other places every single day.

It reminds us of stories we heard from our mothers and grandmothers about how in their day the boss could do whatever he pleased to the women in the office and even though they worked so hard, jumped over every hurdle to prove themselves, it was never enough.

We thought all of that was ancient history. Didn't we? So many have worked for so many years to end this kind of violence and abuse and disrespect.

But here we are, 2016, and we're hearing these exact same things every day on the campaign trail.

We are drowning. All of us doing what women have always done. We're trying to keep our heads above water. Just trying to get through it. Trying to pretend like this doesn't really bother us.

Maybe because we think that admitting how much it hurts makes us as women look weak. Maybe we're afraid to be that vulnerable. Maybe we've grown accustomed to swallowing these emotions and staying quiet. Because we've seen that people often won't take our word over his. Or maybe we don't want to believe that there's still people out there who think so little of us as women.

Too many are treating this as just another day's headline. As if our outrage is overblown or unwarranted. As if this is normal. Just politics as usual.

But New Hampshire, be clear, this is not normal. This is not politics as usual. [ cheers and applause ] this is disgraceful. It is intolerable. Doesn't matter what party you belong to. No woman deserves to be treated this way. No one deserves this kind of abuse. I know it's a campaign, but this isn't about politics. It's about basic human decency. It's about right and wrong. We cannot endure this or expose our children to this for any longer. Not for another minute, let alone four years.

Now is the time for all of us to stand up and say enough is enough. This has got to stop right now.

Because conservatives, if all of this is painful to us as grown women, what do you think this is doing to our children? What messages are our little girls hearing about how they should look, how they should act? what lessons are they learning as their value as professionals and human beings, about their dreams and aspirations.

And how's this affecting men and boys in this country? Because I can tell you that the men in my life do not talk about women like this. I know my family is not unusual.

To dismiss this every day locker room talk is an insult to decent men everywhere. The men that you and I know don't treat women this way. They are loving fathers sickened by the thought of their daughters being exposed to this kind of language about women. They are husbands and brothers and being treated and demeaned.

Like us, the men are worried about the impact this election is looking for boys, role models for what it means to be a man. In fact, someone told me a story about their 6-year-old son who one day was watching the news. Watching the news together. And the little boy out of the blue said I think hillary clinton will be president. And his mom said, well, why do you say that? this little 6-year-old said the other guy called someone a piggy. He said, you cannot be president if you call someone a piggy. [ cheers and applause ]

So even a 6-year-old knows better. A 6-year-old knows this is not how adults behave. It's not how decent human beings behave. This is certainly not how someone who wants to be president of the united states behaves. Because let's be very clear, strong men, men who are truly role models, don't need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful. People who are truly powerful bring others together. That is what we need in our next president.

Can you help us out?

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