Colorado will remove a portrait of President Trump from the state capitol at the request of Republican lawmakers, after the work was criticized by the President.
Colorado House Democrats said on March 24 that a portrait of President Donald Trump would be removed from the state capitol building at the request of Republicans. The painting will be placed in a safe place until “further notice.”
“If Republicans want to spend time and money on which portrait of Mr. Trump hangs in the state capitol building, that’s up to them,” said a spokesman for Colorado House Democrats.
Paul Lundeen, a Republican and minority leader in the state Senate, said he had asked that the portrait of Mr. Trump be removed and replaced with one that “depicts the current appearance” of the president.
On March 23, the US President posted a disparaging post about the painting at the Colorado state capitol building, saying it was “deliberately distorted” and that he would rather have no portrait hanging there than such an “ugly painting”.
A portrait of President Donald Trump at the Colorado State Capitol on March 24, before it was removed. Photo: AP
According to him, many Coloradoans have called the state government to ask for the mural to be replaced or removed. “I am speaking on behalf of the people to Governor Jared Polis, who is extremely weak on crime, to take down the mural. Jared should be ashamed of himself,” Mr. Trump said.
However, Polis, a Democrat, had not yet taken office as Colorado governor when the painting was commissioned in 2018, during Trump’s first term. Polis also did not attend the painting’s unveiling, which took place a few months after he took office.
The painting was commissioned by Kevin Grantham, a Republican congressman from Colorado, after a $10,000 online fundraising campaign to have Trump’s portrait hang in the state capitol like other presidents. Grantham then commissioned artist Sarah Boardman to create the painting.
A picture of Mr Trump was hung on the wall of the Colorado state capitol, where a prankster once posted a portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It is unclear why Mr Trump took notice of the portrait after six years, but he said that Boardman, now in her 70s, “must have lost her talent as she got older”. He said her portrait of former President Barack Obama in the Capitol looked “better”.
Portraits of Mr. Trump and Mr. Obama at the Colorado state capitol building on March 24. Photo: AP
Following Mr Trump’s post, a large number of tourists came to the Colorado state capitol building to take photos with the painting, before it was removed.
Boardman has not commented on the president’s comments or the removal of the painting from the state capitol building. In a 2019 interview, she said it was important for her work about Obama and Trump to appear nonpolitical.
According to Senator Grantham, the purpose of hanging portraits is to honor the office of the president, not to honor any individual. “To omit any president would be disrespectful to the people of Colorado,” he said.
Grantham defended Boardman, saying she was a fine artist and that the incident would not affect her reputation. However, he also respected President Trump’s wish to remove the portrait, saying he could understand those who did not want an unflattering image of themselves displayed for future generations.
“So is the president,” said Grantham, who voted for Mr Trump three times and still supports the president.