Bill Maher calls out his own audience as 'f**king liars' over $850m Obama Presidential Center

Bill Maher evidently isn't a fan of the newly opened Obama Presidential Center and described it as looking like something 'an alien built in Dubai'.

On Friday (June 19), former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama surprised some of the first visitors to walk through the doors of the new Chicago-based center.

The Juneteenth opening followed a star-studded dedication ceremony where the Obamas gave rousing speeches to an audience including three former presidents, their former first ladies, and a host of politicians, A-list celebs, musicians, athletes, and others.

The likes of Stevie Wonder, U2, Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, and Bruce Springsteen performed at the ceremony, while Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Star Wars creator Georga Lucas, and Tyler Perry were in attendance too.

According to CNN, the Obama Presidential Center cost as much as $850 million to build and was designed by the architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. The 20-acre campus includes public library, playground, and sports facilities.

While many people have flocked to the new center to see it for themselves, it's safe to say Bill Maher won't be booking a flight to Chicago anytime soon.

Speaking on his TV show Real Time, Maher said of the building: "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?"

The money spent on erecting the futuristic-looking building came from the Obama Foundation. Donors included Oprah, Jeff Bezos, and the super successful screen writer, Shonda Rimes.

Maher's ramblings went on: "Who’s gonna go to this? Why does anybody need a presidential library? These monuments to some of these ego, out of office."

When he asked the audience if they planned on visiting it, they started clapping.

"Really?" Maher reacted. "You're a bunch of f**king liars. You're not going to the Obama library."

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

Maher isn't the only critic of the new center as many Americans have hailed the ginormous piece of architecture as 'ugly'.

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.