As Michelle Obama began her speech, she addressed her husband directly: “Barack you got to look at me.” “No I’m not,” he replied over the crowd’s laughter. “I’m gonna look down.”
The reason soon became clear. As she spoke of their families, the parents and grandparents who raised them, their daughters Sasha and Malia, and Obama’s accomplishments as president and his “unshakeable moral fibre,” the former president grew visibly emotional, reaching up at one point to wipe away tears.
She told him, “You always gave us the very best within you, and in doing so, you reminded the rest of us that we could too.” She added that the centre was not simply a tribute to a man, an administration or a presidency: “Barack and I have always said that this center is grounded in our stories, but it has never been about us.”
She also recalled an early promise her husband had made her: “You told me all those years ago that you couldn’t promise me the world, but you could promise me an interesting life, and of course you outdid yourself and managed to give me both.”
Obama returns the favour, thanks Bidens
Taking the stage afterwards, Barack Obama opened with “Hello Chicago. Sweet home, Chicago,” before thanking the former presidents seated on stage and calling former President Joe Biden and former First Lady Jill Biden “family”.
Former President Barack Obama teared up during the speech his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, delivered at the Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening ceremony in Chicago Thursday.
“Barack, there are no words to express how proud I am of the way you showed up and continue to… pic.twitter.com/mlAmvV7oFH
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 18, 2026
He then turned to his wife. “To Michelle, she did me wrong. She wouldn’t let me see her speech. She knew she was going to mess me up, but she did it anyway,” he said to laughter, before adding: “But she’s always made me better and I could not be more grateful.” He had a message for his daughters too: “And to Sasha and Malia, what can I say? You mean everything to me.”
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Obama also paid tribute to Chicago itself, recalling his arrival in the city in 1985 at the age of 23 in a secondhand car he had bought in New York, saying he had known then that he wanted to make a difference.
Pointed remarks without naming Trump
Obama used the platform to make pointed political statements without directly naming the current administration. Michelle Obama said, “No one, I mean no one, has the right to sit in judgment of who’s American enough,” drawing applause from the crowd, and added: “We simply don’t have the luxury or time to be cynical or complacent, to wring our hands in despair, to wait for someone else to fix the problem. Y’all, hope is all we have.”
Barack Obama similarly spoke of the “shared values that make democracy possible,” in remarks that never explicitly referenced the current president but at multiple points appeared to direct criticism at his administration.
CNN’s coverage of the ceremony noted a contrast between the two men’s styles: while Trump is known for openly praising his own record, Obama made a point of gesturing at his failures and appeared embarrassed when his wife’s speech turned to praising him directly.
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Who all attended?
Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Joe Biden joined the Obamas at Thursday’s ceremony, alongside a host of celebrities. The musical lineup included Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, and U2’s Bono and the Edge.
The 19-acre campus, built at a cost of $850 million, includes a museum with digital exhibits on key moments of Obama’s presidency, a basketball court, a branch of Chicago’s public library, and extensive green space. The centre opens to the general public this weekend, beginning with an open house on Friday Juneteenth running through the weekend with live performances, arts and crafts activities, and sports team meet-and-greets.
