AKIPRESS.COM - First lady Michelle Obama delivered Thursday an impassioned denunciation of Donald Trump, calling the recently unearthed comments by the Republican presidential nominee "shocking" and "demeaning," and below "basic standards of human decency," CNN reports. 

Speaking at a rally for Hillary Clinton in Manchester, New Hampshire, Obama lit into Trump over a video that surfaced last week in which he can be heard talking about being sexually aggressive with women.

"I can't believe I'm saying a candidate for president of the United States has bragged about sexually assaulting women," Obama said.

The speech was an uncharacteristically direct attack from the first lady, who said she eschewed her "normal campaign speech" because it would have been "dishonest and disingenuous to me to just move on to the next thing like this was all just a bad dream."

The first lady never addressed Trump by name, referring to him only as a "candidate." She began the speech by reflecting on what she called a "rough week in an already rough election."

Trump defends himself against allegations of groping women

Obama lamented the "hurtful, hateful language about women" throughout the campaign, saying it was "painful" to those who expected leaders should meet "basic standards of human decency."

Her voice quivered as she recalled a meeting with young women at the White House on Tuesday.

"I told them they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect," Obama said. "I wanted them to understand that the measure of any society is how it treats women and girls."

Obama said the comments made by Trump in the video, which was recorded in 2005, had left her "shaken."