Once symbolizing presidential respect, President Trump’s portrait at Colorado’s Capitol halls will be removed after he rightfully called out its deliberately unflattering nature.
GOP leaders stepped in to address the situation after Trump pointed out the stark contrast between his unflattering portrait and the same artist’s much more favorable painting of former President Obama.
The controversial oil painting, created during Trump’s first term and unveiled in 2019, quickly became the target of criticism from the President himself.
Trump took to Truth Social to express his frustration with how the portrait portrayed him compared to Obama’s flattering depiction, both created by artist Sarah Boardman.
“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,” Trump posted.
The portrait came about after state Republicans raised over $10,000 via GoFundMe to commission it.
This followed an embarrassing incident in which a prankster placed a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin near Trump’s reserved spot in the gallery, highlighting the absence of Trump’s portrait at the time.
Trump did not hold back in his comparison of the two presidential paintings.
“The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one [of] me is truly the worst. She must have lost her talent as she got older,” Trump pointed out about Boardman’s work.
Despite the artist’s claim that her depictions were meant to be “apolitical,” many visitors to the Capitol had already noticed issues with Trump’s portrait, with some describing it as making him look “chubby” compared to his actual appearance.
Moreover, the legislature’s Executive Committee decided to remove the portrait, ordering it to be taken down and stored securely until further notice.
Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen has already suggested replacing it with a “contemporary likeness” that better represents President Trump.
While Trump initially blamed Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) for the unflattering image, the portraits are actually managed by the Colorado Building Advisory Committee, not the governor’s office.
Polis’s office expressed surprise at Trump’s concern about the Capitol’s artwork, a response that seems to downplay legitimate concerns about fair representation.
Ultimately, the process for changing a presidential portrait at the Capitol remains unclear, but GOP leaders have taken a stand for fairness by requesting the removal of the distorted image.
This incident highlights the ongoing battle conservatives face for fair representation in public spaces, especially in Democrat-controlled states like Colorado, where even something as simple as a presidential portrait can become a vehicle for political messaging.
