Watch: Obama’s message at Ali funeral: ‘Muhammad Ali was America’

White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett delivered a message written by President Obama at Muhammad Ali’s funeral on Friday.

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White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett delivered a message written by President Obama at Muhammad Ali’s funeral on Friday.

With the president and First Lady attending the high school graduation of their oldest daughter, Malia, Obama penned the speech to be read in his absence.

Jarrett took the stage at the KFC Yum! Center in Ali’s birthplace of Louisville, Kentucky, with the overarching message that “Muhammad Ali was America.”

Watch the full speech below.

[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdkCu8W_cPM]

Ali, widely regarded as one of the most influential athletes and greatest boxers ever, died last week at the age of 74.