Bill Maher has made it clear he’s no admirer of the newly opened Obama Presidential Center, comparing it to something “an alien built in Dubai”.
The remarks came just as the long-awaited Obama Presidential Center opened in Chicago’s Jackson Park on June 19, 2026, with the public able to start visiting the campus and museum that day following a June 18 dedication ceremony.
The Juneteenth launch capped more than a decade of planning and construction for the 19-acre campus, which includes a museum, a Chicago Public Library branch, gardens, walking trails, a playground, public art installations, and event spaces designed to draw visitors to the South Side.
Performers at the dedication included Stevie Wonder, U2, Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, and Bruce Springsteen. Among those attending were Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Star Wars creator George Lucas, and Tyler Perry.
According to reports, the project carries a price tag of around $850 million. The campus was designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien and is intended to serve both as a museum of the Obama presidency and as a broader public gathering place.
The Obama Foundation says most of the campus is free and open to the public, while museum entry requires timed tickets. Visitors can also explore features such as the Women’s Garden, the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegetable Garden, the John Lewis Plaza, the Great Lawn, and the Sky Room with panoramic views of the city and Lake Michigan.
Although plenty of visitors are eager to check it out in person, Maher does not appear to be among them.
During an episode of Real Time, he said: “Do we have a picture of the Obama library? Because it looks like something aliens built in Dubai.
“It cost $850 million. I don’t understand why progressives like this. Couldn’t that money be better spent on something else?”
Funding for the striking, futuristic structure came through the Obama Foundation, with donations from figures such as Oprah, Jeff Bezos, and acclaimed screenwriter Shonda Rhimes.
Maher continued: “Who’s gonna go to this? Why does anybody need a presidential library? These monuments to some of these ego, out of office.”
After he asked the audience whether they intended to visit, many responded with applause.
“Really?” Maher reacted. “You’re a bunch of f**king liars. You’re not going to the Obama library.”
He is far from the only person to criticize the center, with a number of Americans branding the enormous building as ‘ugly’.
Bill Maher mocked the Obama Presidential Center as a billion-dollar monument to ego. Ro Khanna had the better answer.
"It's a unique story of the possibility in this country of someone who had no shot. When I was in law school, they said to me, your Indian-American, you're of… pic.twitter.com/mJ84IRfu5E
— Blue Georgia (@BlueGeorgia) June 20, 2026
Somebody said on Twitter: “The Obama presidential center is quite literally one of the ugliest buildings constructed in the history of humanity.”
Echoing similar sentiments, another person wrote: “The new Obama Presidential Center has to be the ugliest building I’ve ever seen, it looks like a concrete tomb, a total eyesore.”
“The Obama presidential center might actually be the ugliest building I’ve ever seen,” added a third.