The Colorado legislature agreed to remove a portrait of President Donald Trump from the state Capitol after he derided the painting as “the worst” in a lengthy social media post over the weekend.
The Legislature’s bipartisan Executive Committee officially ordered Capitol staff to take down the portrait on Monday. Democratic state lawmakers, who have a majority in both chambers, said they agreed with their Republican colleagues’ request to remove it.
“If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then that’s up to them,” Jarrett Freedman, a spokesperson for Colorado House Democrats, told The Washington Post in a statement.
Trump railed against the portrait in a Truth Social post on Sunday, claiming that it was “purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before.”
The painting depicts Trump with full cheeks and a slight frown. When it was unveiled in 2018, the artist, Sarah A. Boardman, described Trump’s expression in the painting as “serious, non-confrontational, thoughtful,” the Colorado Times Recorder reported.
In his post, however, Trump criticized Boardman — who has also painted portraits of former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush — and insulted her artistic ability.
“The artist also did President Obama, and he looks wonderful, but the one on me is truly the worst,” he wrote. “She must have lost her talent as she got older.”
Trump then called for its removal, claiming that “angry” Colorado residents have complained about the portrait and that he was merely “speaking on their behalf.” He also took the opportunity to attack Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, as “weak on Crime” regarding Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal gang that he said has been active in Aurora, Colorado.
“Jared should be ashamed of himself!” Trump wrote.
After his rant, he posted both his official presidential portraits on Truth Social. Infamously image-conscious, Trump has often taken issue with the publication of unflattering photos of himself. In a 2016 article about a meeting with media executives, Politico reported that Trump, then president-elect, personally complained to NBC News’ president at the time that the network was using photos in which he appeared to have a double chin. In an early 2017 social media post, he grumbled that a CNN book about his 2016 election campaign used the “worst cover photo of me!” And in 2023, he repeatedly complained about Fox News’ photo choices, once even attacking the network for using the “absolutely worst pictures of me, especially the big ‘orange’ one with my chin pulled way back.” It was unclear at the time exactly which image he was referring to. In 2019, Trump grumbled about energy-efficient light bulbs, telling reporters that they cost more money and made him look worse. “And I hate to say it, it doesn’t make you look as good. Of course, being a vain person, that’s very important to me,” he said. “It gives you an orange look. I don’t want an orange look.”
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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