Obama's Former Pastor Blasts Media

Wright Calls Obama's Election 'Inspiring'

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, president-elect Barack Obama's former pastor, on Friday gave a scathing analysis of the media coverage he received during the campaign.

During his address, Wright told the audience that, "even Ray Charles could see" that the media coverage of him was unfair. Wright spoke at Northwestern University at the invitation of Northwestern's Black Student Alliance, NBC5's Lauren Jiggetts reported.

"He is a respected man in the community," said Angela Ellington of the Black Student Alliance. "We feel that regardless of the things that he says that not everyone agrees with, he should be able to say whatever he likes. We support that and we respect that, and that's why we invited him to come."

Wright told an audience in Connecticut on Thursday that the media treated him as a "weapon of mass destruction" against Obama. Clips of some of Wright's sermons were broadcast during the campaign, leading some pundits to argue about the damage to Obama's presidential campaign.

Last year, Northwestern University was scheduled to give Wright an honorary degree, but later rescinded the offer. On Friday, some students wondered why Wright was invited to speak at Northwestern.

"Why bring in someone so controversial, someone who consistently speaks out against their country, and I think someone really harms the chance of Obama winning the presidency?" said James D'Angelo, president of the College Republicans. "I just didn't know what else he could add to our public discourse."

Wright told the audience at Northwestern that he thought the election results were powerful and inspiring, adding that he has admired Obama for 20 years and supported his campaign fully.

"I feel that diverse opinions are so necessary," said one student at the speech. "If we become a closed-minded university, then we're not really living up to our 'diversity' model."

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