Featured Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty
Topics: Barack Obama, Chicago, Social Media
Ben Williams
Topics: Barack Obama, Chicago, Social Media
Barack Obama’s Presidential Center has finally been revealed, and the internet has quickly jumped on the opportunity to troll the former US President in the most brutal manner.
It’s been nearly a decade in the making, but Obama’s Presidential Center, a sprawling 19-acre campus in Chicago’s Jackson Park, is finally edging toward completion. Set to open in spring 2026, the site is meant to be a community hub unlike any other presidential library, featuring a Chicago Public Library branch, gardens, playgrounds, and even a basketball court.
The Obama Foundation, which runs the project privately rather than through the National Archives, says the space was designed to celebrate civic engagement and collective action. The museum building, shaped to resemble four hands coming together, is emblazoned with words from Obama’s 50th anniversary speech on the Selma to Montgomery marches.
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As shown off by Word in Black, there’ll be a great lawn for outdoor movies and sledding, a fruit and vegetable garden named after Eleanor Roosevelt, and a plaza honoring the late civil rights hero John Lewis.
While this sounds incredibly wholesome enough, social media users responding to its reveal had different reactions.
This week, platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram erupted after fresh footage of the nearly complete structure began circulating online. What started as a simple post from Sen. Ted Cruz saying that ‘locating the Death Star in Chicago was a bold move’, quickly turned into a full-blown meme fest.
Users piled in, comparing the 225-foot-tall concrete-and-granite tower to everything they could compare to pop culture and beyond.
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As first noted by the New York Post, one user joked: “It’s an ‘obamanation’! Just like his presidency!” while another said: “It’s like someone built a Lego set without the instructions.”
Others got creative with Photoshop, dropping the building into scenes from Star Wars: complete with X-Wing fighters and AT-AT walkers, or topping it with the fiery Eye of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings.
Some even compared it to Easter Island heads and common trash bins, with one post labeling it the ‘Litter Genie Plus Pail’.
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In fairness, the center was never meant to look like a traditional presidential library. It won’t even hold physical records; instead, it’ll feature digital archives from Obama’s time in office, reflecting the increasingly online nature of modern governance.
Still, that hasn’t stopped people from roasting the design’s brutalist vibe.
Meanwhile, construction continues, and the Obama Foundation remains focused on its mission. The center will also house leadership programs and spaces for local residents, with features like the Hadiya Pendleton Atrium, honoring a Chicago teen killed by gun violence, and a two-acre outdoor playground for families.