President Donald Trump spent part of his Sunday railing against a portrait of himself that’s been hanging in the Colorado State Capitol for nearly six years.
“Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before,” he griped on his Truth Social website.
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Trump said a portrait of President Barack Obama created by the same artist, Sarah Boardman, “looks wonderful.”
But the president slammed the image of himself as “truly the worst.”
Check it out in this 2019 photo taken after the unveiling:
President Donald Trump's portrait hangs in the Colorado Capitol after an unveiling ceremony Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019, in Denver. Colorado Republicans raised more than $10,000 through a GoFundMe account to commission the portrait, which was painted by Sarah Boardman, an artist who also produced the Capitol's portrait of President Barack Obama. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)
via Associated Press
The president insisted that “many people” have called and written to complain about the image, which he blamed on Democrat Governor Jared Polis.
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“Jared should be ashamed of himself!” Trump said as he demanded that Polis take the portrait down.
There was no image of Trump at the time because no money had been raised to commission it.
When that story went viral, Kevin Grantham ― a Republican who was president of the Colorado Senate at the time ― raised more than $10,000 via crowdfunding for the portrait.
At the unveiling in 2019, the artist Boardman said her image was meant to stand the test of time.
“In five, 10, 15, 20 years, he will be another president on the wall who is only historical background and he needs to look neutral,” she said, according to Colorado Public Radio.
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She also described her process to the Colorado Times Recorder in an interview conducted as she worked on the piece.
“When I start to paint a portrait, it is the portrait, likeness, and ‘essence’ of the subject which I strive to portray,” she said. “Any personal feelings about any subject are not relevant and are left outside the studio per my training to ‘leave those emotions at the door’.”
Six year later, however, and Trump’s emotions appear to be getting the better of him as he railed against the portrait.
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The president’s critics mocked him over the meltdown:
BREAKING: Trump is having a full-blown meltdown on Truth Social—this time over a painting of him displayed at the Colorado State Capitol. He’s lashing out at the governor, claiming the portrait is “distorted.”It’d be a real shame if everyone saw it… and shared it.
Donald Trump is furious about a portrait of him hanging in Colorado’s State Capitol, calling it 'the worst' and claiming it 'was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before.' Trump is such a petty, insecure baby.
Little Donny is mad about his portrait hanging in Colorado’s State Capitol, calling it 'the worst' and claiming it 'was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before.' Trump is such a petty, insecure baby.So let’s repost!
…just imagine being the artist who created this piece.They now get to read the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES make fun of them and their abilities in a public forum. People will find this artist and harass them because of this post. This is beneath the office, but what else is new with this guy?
There is just so much to unpack here. But as a Colorado citizen, I never would’ve been aware of this portrait until he mentioned it, but now I might just need to swing into the Capitol to take a gander at the “wonderful” Obama portrait.
Dear Governor Polis,Hi there. I know we’ve had some disagreements in the past, but one thing I think we can agree on is that this portrait is fire. As a constituent, I love it. All my constituent homies do too, like we’re all pretty aligned on this.Thanks so much,Travis
I actually think it looks better than reality.As usual, he can't help himself and has to insult at least a couple of people in any given post. Enough already with random capitalisation, and someone please ban him from using exclamation marks.
