Donald Trump savaged US media Thursday for reporting "outright lies" that he groped and forcibly kissed women, as First Lady Michelle Obama blasted the Republican nominee in a powerful tirade.
Just 26 days before the American electorate chooses a successor to her husband on November 8, a visibly angry first lady delivered a fiery takedown of the real estate mogul and his "disgraceful" behaviour.
"Now is the time for all of us to stand up and say, enough is enough," Obama told a rally for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. "This has got to stop right now."
But the 70-year-old Trump was defiant, castigating his accusers as "horrible liars" and accusing Clinton of conspiring in a coordinated media attempt to sabotage his campaign.
At least six women have accused Trump of making unwanted physical advances in accounts reported by The New York Times, NBC, People Magazine and others, most of them after Trump asserted in Sunday's debate with Clinton that he had never sexually assaulted a woman.
Trump said his lawyers were preparing a lawsuit against The New York Times -- which published the accounts of two women who accused him of groping and kissing them.
Meanwhile, some of the Republican Party's biggest financial donors urged its national committee on Thursday to drop Donald Trump in the wake of accusations he sexually assaulted women, The New York Times reported.