Obama’s Presidential Center Perfectly Symbolizes His Terrible Presidency

Barack Obama took to social media on October 18 to announce that his presidential center will open next year, describing it as a hub for change where people from around the world can come together, get inspired, and take what they learn back to their communities. The accompanying video touts the center as "unlike any other" and "built by the community for the community." That's rich, considering that the community pretty much hates the thing.

When the Obama Presidential Center opens next year, it will be a hub for change — a place for people from all over the world to come together, get inspired, and take what they learn back to their own communities. https://t.co/gW6UCYBCAJ pic.twitter.com/U92thHbAUL
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 18, 2025

The Obama Presidential Center has become the perfect metaphor for his disastrous presidency. It's way behind schedule, way over budget, and it's actually hurting the people it claims to be helping. The price tag has exploded from its original $500 million budget to a staggering $830 million. For all that money, Chicagoans are getting a facility that will feature a museum, public library branch, athletic center, gardens, and children's play area sprawling across nearly 20 acres of the 540-acre Jackson Park.

Back in August, the New York Post reported that Chicago residents basically can't stand it. "Construction of former President Barack Obama's library and museum in Chicago has triggered backlash from local residents and community leaders, who fear the $850 million 'monstrosity' will accelerate gentrification, drive up rents, and displace longtime residents and their families," the paper noted.

The Obama Center broke ground in September 2021 and has faced years of delays and lawsuits since construction began. While the project is privately funded, that hasn't stopped it from becoming a financial and social burden on the community it supposedly serves. Local residents have reported that rents and property taxes have skyrocketed as construction nears completion, pricing out the very people Obama claims to champion.

Just like Obamacare did with premiums.

"Rents are going up fast," Kyana Butler of Southside Together told the Daily Mail. Butler is a member of one of at least three local activist groups that lobbied the Obama Foundation to better integrate the project into the surrounding neighborhood. "A two-bedroom apartment that used to rent for $800 a month has already jumped to $1,800. Property taxes are going up so much that the owner of my building is saying she might just walk away," she said. One resident called the center a "monstrosity" that takes away from the beautiful area that once existed there.

What's worse is that the Obama Foundation doesn't care. "The Obama Foundation declined to address residents' concerns to the outlet, instead touting the new centers as a 'tremendous' global destination in a general statement," the New York Post wrote. That statement is about as tone-deaf as you can get. "We're proud that members of the community played key roles in building the center, and we are looking forward to hiring hundreds of good jobs when the Center opens," the statement read. Translation: Thanks for the manual labor; now move along while we turn your neighborhood into a tourist attraction.

What was sold as a symbol of civic renewal has instead become a cash pipeline for ideological activism and insider privilege. Recent tax filings reveal that the Obama Foundation, the group funding the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, quietly funneled over $2 million in 2022 and 2023 to a notorious left-wing “dark money” network tied to radical causes. Meanwhile, top executives pocketed massive salaries — CEO Emeka Jarrett earned over $750,000 last year, and EVP Rob Cohen nearly $650,000 — while locals grow frustrated.

This is classic Obama. Big promises, bigger price tags, and communities left worse off than they started. The presidential center was supposed to be a monument to his legacy, and in a way, it is. It's ugly, expensive, behind schedule, and leaving ordinary Americans with higher bills because of his vanity project. The only thing missing is a plaque that says "You didn't build that."

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is still ongoing, and polls are now showing Americans are increasingly blaming the Democrats for this mess, but we can’t let them spin their way out of it.

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