Presidential historian Craig Shirley told Newsmax on Friday that former President Barack Obama acted in a “very, very tacky” manner by taking a veiled shot at President Donald Trump during remarks celebrating the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

Appearing on “Wake Up America,” Shirley said presidential library and center openings have traditionally been among the few occasions where politics are set aside and former presidents come together in a bipartisan spirit.

The Obama Presidential Center officially opens to visitors Friday after years of construction and an $850 million price tag.

The 20-acre campus includes a museum tower, basketball court, test kitchen and playground, but it does not house presidential archives because it is operated by the Obama Foundation rather than the National Archives and Records Administration.

Shirley explained that traditional presidential libraries have long combined a museum component with federally managed archives that preserve presidential records for researchers and historians.

“Each presidential library has both. It's kind of a church and state thing,” he said. “They have the federal government's role handling the papers and protecting the papers and archiving the papers, and then, the other side, just displaying the president's life per se.”

During remarks at the center opening, Obama spoke about the nation's founding principles, declaring that in the United States there would be “no kings or lords, no serfs or subjects, but only citizens” — comments widely viewed as indirect criticism of Trump.

Asked whether it was appropriate for Obama to inject politics into the event, Shirley offered a blunt assessment.

“It was completely inappropriate,” he said. “It was very, very tacky.”

Shirley argued that presidential funerals and presidential library openings have historically served as rare opportunities for unity among leaders from both parties.

“The one time where you're supposed to have bipartisanship is at presidential funerals and presidential library openings,” he said.

Pointing to the opening of the Reagan Library, Shirley recalled that “Jimmy Carter was there. Richard Nixon was there. George Bush — all of Reagan's former political enemies and political friends, they were all there.

“Reagan went to the opening of the Carter Center,” he added. “That's the one time when presidents get together.”

Instead, Shirley criticized Obama for taking aim at Trump from the podium.

“Having snubbed Trump, which is, I think, very, very tacky, and then attacking him without him having a chance to defend himself, just goes to show everything wrong” with the event, he said.

Shirley also questioned the symbolism of the center's design, arguing that its lack of windows reflected what he viewed as a lack of openness.

“There are no windows, which means it's not transparent,” he said. “Which means the Obama presidency wasn't transparent.”

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