US First Lady Michelle Obama on Friday launched a scathing take down of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, calling his sexually aggressive comments about women "disgraceful" and "intolerable." Obama, a Harvard-educated lawyer who has largely shunned the political limelight to focus on education and health issues, galvanized a rally for Democrat Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire with an impassioned plea to "stop this madness."

"It doesn't matter what party you belong to -- Democrat, Republican, independent -- no woman deserves to be treated this way. No one deserves this kind of abuse."
She lashed out at what she called Trump's "cruel" and "frightening" attitude towards women, while deliberately never using his name.

"It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn't have predicted," she said.
"This is not normal. It is not politics as usual. This is disgraceful. It is intolerable."
'Not how decent human beings behave'