Minority presidential candidate Barack Obama upped his criticism of the leading Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, by telling the media it’s unfair for her to suggest political attacks are made on her because of her gender.

In an interview on NBC’s “Today Show” Friday morning, Obama said “I’m assuming and I hope that Senator Clinton wants to be treated like everybody else. And I think that that's why she's running for president.”

He went on: “You know, when we had a debate back in Iowa a while back, we spent, I think, the first 15 minutes of the debate hitting me on various foreign policy issues. And I didn't come out and say, ‘Look, I'm being hit on because I look different from the rest of the folks on the stage.’”

The day after the debate, Clinton held an event at her women-only alma matter, Wellesley College, and said her experiences there prepared her for the “the all boys club of presidential politics."

Longtime Clinton advisor Patti Solis Doyle also stated: “On that stage in Philadelphia, we saw six against one. Candidates who had pledged the politics of hope practiced the politics of pile on instead. Her opponents tried a whole host of attacks on Hillary. She is one strong woman. She came through it well. But Hillary's going to need your help."

To bolster their defense, the Clinton campaign made a campaign video titled “The Politics of a Pile On” that said her opponents and NBC debate moderators ganged up on her during a televised debate that aired Tuesday evening.

Clinton’s Tuesday debate performance was considered by many to be her worst performance of the year. The Republican National Committee seized on the media’s assessment and compiled their critical statements in a video that was released today.