The nation’s 44th president is preparing for the grand opening ceremony of The Obama Presidential Center, a 19-acre campus standing tall over Chicago’s south side where former President Barack Obama grew up. The center is a privately-funded complex that features interactive experiences, a basketball court, a community garden and a public library. NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell shares an inside look for TODAY.
The Obama Presidential Center will open its doors on Friday, June 17th, with a star-studded ceremony featuring The Roots, Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera, Common, Eddie Vedder, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Stevie Wonder, Marc Anthony, Tems, U2's Bono and The Edge, and Marsai Martin.
Lots of good art at the Obama Presidential Center, but does its museum cross an IRS line?
CNN's Audie Cornish schooled a former Donald Trump staffer who pooh-poohed the opening of Barack Obama's presidential library.The 64-year-old former president will be joined at his library's grand opening Thursday by George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and the event will include performances by legendary artists like Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Eddie Vedder, Jennifer Hudson and The Roots, and Cornish couldn't help but compare that to President Donald Trump's lackluster Freedom 250 lineup."It's very Obama era in terms of all the celebrities being there, and we made a list of, like, who's going to be, who's going to be at this Obama event and their global record sales, and then what's going on with the Trump-backed Freedom 250, which pretty much kicked off a few weeks ago in terms of who was leaving it," Cornish said. "In the end, it's Lee Greenwood, a president, the president's favorite, and a handful of other artists. Is this a reminder of, like, kind of where Hollywood's heart lies or the complication that Trump has his relationship with pop culture?"Mike Dubke, a former communications director in Trump's first term, seemed caught off guard by the question."Is this to me?" he said. "I don't know that it's a fair comparison."Cornish disagreed, saying they were both massive events taking place within weeks of one another."I love presidential libraries," Dubke filibustered. "I think they are, and especially to the point that they tell the story of the president in their own words. So I've been to a few. I've been to Bill Clinton's down in Little Rock, I've been to Ronald Reagan's out in California. I think it's incredibly interesting to walk through each of these libraries, and I'm in Chicago, I will probably go to Obama's presidential library because I think they're fantastic things.""Trump is not invited," Cornish prodded, "just so we're clear.""No, that's fine, but I don't – I will take a little issue on this pop culture thing because I don't know that comparing America's 250 and all the politics that are surrounding this with what should be a celebration for Obama," Dunke said. "I'm not sure I'm there. We should be celebrating America's. 250 but look, this is this is a celebration for Obama and the folks that really enjoyed his presidency, and, you know, good on them for having a go."Cornish then offered to provide some historical context to Obama's event in comparison to Trump's partisan takeover of the celebration of the United States' semiquincentennial."In an era where [diversity, equity and inclusion] has been completely, not just DEI, when Black American history has been carved out of the halls of the federal government with a with like a butcher knife, them doing this library on Juneteenth week is on purpose and is significant because maybe for Black Americans, that is a historic moment that this nation will no longer celebrate under the Trump administration," Cornish said. "They are not interested in talking about the history of slavery. So it feels like the Obamas are doing something very purposeful. They're creating an alternative historical celebration for people who feel like part of their history is forgotten."
President Donald Trump erupted in a profane outburst at the G7 Summit in France when asked to compare his Iran agreement with former President Barack Obama's Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. While sitting beside Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Trump claimed Obama bribed Iran with $1.7 billion in cash flown on a Boeing 757, falsely stating Iranians mocked Obama. He asserted his deal was superior, though he has refused to disclose its details publicly. Commentators, like political scientist and former diplomat Michael McFaul, highlighted that Obama's JCPOA prevented Iranian nuclear weapons without military conflict or massive spending.Veteran journalist John Harwood suggested, "Trump is tormented by jealousy of a superior human being," adding, "Obama's superiority, as a president and a person, hurts Trump especially badly because he's a huge racist and Obama is black."The incident sparked widespread criticism on social media regarding Trump's fitness for office and his erratic behavior on the global stage.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
Former President Barack Obama, joined by several other living presidents, will host a dedication ceremony for the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Thursday. The Obama Foundation made the announcement in March. The ceremony will have performances from artists such as The Roots, Christina Aguilera, Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Stevie […]
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