NBC News
Barack Obama appears in Ohio.
President Barack Obama unleashed a blistering attack on Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, during a rally in Cleveland, Ohio on Friday.
Obama ripped into Trump's past comments about women, labeling Mexican immigrants as racists, and suggesting that Islamic Americans should be treated differently.
"You don't have to be a husband or a father to know that kind of language, those kinds of thoughts, those kind of actions, are unacceptable," Obama said. "They're not right."
Obama questioned why prominent Republicans like John McCain (R-AZ) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) were backing away from Trump now, after the release of a 2005 tape in which Trump bragged about being able to "grab" women "by the p---y."
"You said you're the party of family values," Obama said, in reference to the Republican party. "What, you weren't appalled earlier when he [Trump] was saying degrading things about women? When he was judging them based on a score, of, are they a 2 or a 10?"
"If you're doing it just for political expedience because you're looking at poll numbers and you say 'this might get me in trouble,' that's not enough," Obama said.
He blamed elected Republican officials for "standing by" and letting "crazy talk" - like Obama being born outside of the US - dominate conservative media.
Obama linked the propagation of conspiracy theories to Trump's rise.
"That's what allowed Donald Trump suddenly to emerge."