YA BURNT, Donald Trump.
Friends, lovers, Wonkerinos, your first lady Michelle Obama just laid the ever-loving smack down on gross pussy-grabber Donald Trump at a Hillary Clinton rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was a speech she said she wanted to give, because she, as a woman and a mother and a human, is appalled by the orange man who thinks his status as a semi-wealthy failed businessman gives him license to degrade women and to sexually assault them, with his tiny baby hands.
Obama explained at the beginning that she's "gonna get a little serious here," and OH BOY, she sure did. Shall we have video time together, right now? YES WE SHALL. (Speech starts like 24 minutes in.)
Obama says, "This has been a rough week in an already rough election," and you know the reason why? It is Donald Trump, who is disgusting and perverted and rapey and bad. She proceeded to give an unprecedented speech that spoke raw and from the heart about the long history of women enduring discrimination and violation and powerlessness, and how badly Trump's words and behavior hurt . There is honestly so much to unpack in this speech that we can't possibly encapsulate it, so we're going to give you a few large quotes, and hope they encourage you to sit down with a pumpkin spice Frappuccino and spend a half hour listening, no matter who you are.
On who the man Donald Trump is and what he's already done to America:
[I]n this election, we have a candidate for president of the United States, who over the course of his lifetime, in 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 actually 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. [...]
This is not something that we can ignore. It's not something we can just 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 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.
And 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.
On what it's really like for women to hear this, and what it does to the young girls of America:
I have to tell you that I listen to all of 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's 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 close, stares a little too long, and makes 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 said, "No," but he didn't listen. [...] It reminds us of stories we've heard from our mothers and grandmothers about how back in their day, the boss could say and 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 that was ancient history, didn't we? And so many have worked for so many years, to end this kind of violence and abuse and disrespect, but here we are, in 2016, and we're hearing these exact same things every day on the campaign trail. We are drowning in it. And all of us are 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 are 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. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable. And it doesn't matter what party you belong to, Democrat, Republican, independent, no woman deserves to be treated this way. None of us deserves this kind of abuse.
On who the REAL MEN are, and also a cute and heartwarming and inspiring story about a six-year-old who knows you're not allowed to be president if you call somebody a "piggy":
This isn't about politics. It's about basic human decency. It's about right and wrong. And we simply cannot endure this or expose our children to this any longer, not for another minute, and let alone for four years! Now is the time for all of us to stand up an stay, "Enough is enough!" This has got to stop right now! Because consider this: 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 who they should look like, how they should act? What lessons are they learning about their value as professionals, as human beings, about their dreams and aspirations? And how is 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, and I know that my family is not unusual. And to dismiss this as everyday 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 who are sickened by the thought of their daughters being exposed to this kind of vicious language about women. They are husbands and brothers and sons who don't tolerate women being demeaned and disrespected. And like us, these men are worried about the impact this election is having on our boys, who are looking for role models of what it means to be a man.
In fact, someone recently told me a story about their six-year-old son, who one day was watching the news ... 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?" And this little six-year-old said, "Because the other guy called someone a piggy." And he said, "You cannot be president if you call someone a piggy." So even a six-year-old knows better. A six-year-old knows that this is not how adults behave. This is not how decent human beings behave, and this is certainly not how someone who wants to be president of the United States behaves.
Because let's be very clear. Strong men. Strong men, men who are truly role models, don't need to put down women to make themselves feel powerful.
Having spent however many minutes going the fuck off about what a national disgrace Donald Trump is, Michelle Obama FINALLY hit her stump speech about what a badass Hillary Clinton is. She kept bringing it back to the subject at hand, though, and she had some very I AM MICHELLE OBAMA AND YOU WILL DO WHAT I SAY words for people who don't vote for Hillary, noting that if you vote for anyone else, you are helping Trump win. She wants you to be able to wake up in the morning on November 9 and know you did the right thing, is her point.
Just watch the dang speech, y'all.
So, little boy Donald Trump, did you hear the mean black lady, who's better than you, say what she really thinks of you? Does it make you want to attack her? Do it. WE DARE YOU.
As in, "good men don't need to feel powerful"
General statement on how so much of this, from rape culture to abuse to Trump, is rooted in many people considering "power," or the image thereof, to be proof of masculinity.
In a decent society, these people would get the help they so desperately need.