Even some Republicans have called president\u2019s public demand to remove the painting \u2018petty\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Donald Trump<\/a> critics aimed ridicule at the president after he publicly demanded the removal of his portrait at Colorado<\/a>\u2019s state capitol building, calling it \u201ctruly the worst\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a post<\/a> on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump shared an image of the portrait and complained about the painting, saying it was bad and blaming it on Colorado\u2019s governor, Jared Polis \u2013 whom the president insulted as being \u201cradically left\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Republican admirer of Trump actually commissioned the portrait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n House Democrats said in a statement on Monday evening that the oil painting would be taken down at the request of Republican leaders in the legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Senate minority leader Paul Lundeen, a Republican, said that he requested for Trump\u2019s portrait to be taken down and replaced by one \u201cthat depicts his contemporary likeness\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then that\u2019s up to them,\u201d Colorado<\/a> House Democrats spokesperson, Jarrett Freedman, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would much prefer not having a picture than having this one,\u201d Trump wrote in his Truth Social post on Sunday night, and further said the governor \u201cshould be ashamed of himself\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was unclear what triggered Trump\u2019s tirade about the portrait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In two follow-up posts, Trump shared separate<\/a> images<\/a> of himself in an apparent attempt to distribute photos that he considered more flattering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Liberal and anti-Trump commentators laughed at the president\u2019s reaction on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On X, Sam Stein of MSNBC wrote<\/a> that he was \u201cabsolutely dying\u201d over how Trump was so upset by his portrait \u201cthat he couldn\u2019t resist posting\u201d about it. Stein said it was also funny \u201chow objectively bad the portrait is\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former Republican attorney Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the liberal news website MeidasTouch Network, wrote<\/a> on X that Trump was \u201cthe most fragile, sensitive snowflake in history\u201d while sharing a screenshot of the president\u2019s Truth Social post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another social media account named Republicans Against Trump also shared the president\u2019s post while calling<\/a> him \u201ca petty, insecure baby\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump alleged without evidence that his portrait had been \u201cpurposefully distorted\u201d. The president then complained that his Democratic presidential predecessor Barack Obama \u201clooks wonderful\u201d in his portrait at the Colorado capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite Trump\u2019s criticism of Polis for the painting, it was actually unveiled by a Republican group in 2019. A former Republican state senator had crowdfunded nearly $10,000 to commission the painting, according to Colorado news station KUSA.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump did not have a portrait hanging in the Colorado state capitol for his first presidency, which began in 2017. In 2018, a liberal political activist placed a large portrait of Vladimir Putin \u2013 whom Trump openly admires \u2013 in the empty space, but it was quickly removed by capitol staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That prompted then Republican state senator Kevin Grantham to raise money through a GoFundMe campaign to hang Trump\u2019s portrait in the state capitol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Polis spokesperson told KUSA that the governor was \u201csurprised to learn the President of the United States is an aficionado of our Colorado state capitol and its artwork\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe appreciate the president and everyone\u2019s interest in our capitol building and are always looking for any opportunity to improve our visitor experience,\u201d the Polis spokesperson added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump\u2019s Sunday night comments had prompted a steady stream of visitors to pose for photos with the painting before the announcement that it would be taken down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aaron Howe, visiting from Wyoming on Monday, stood in front of Trump\u2019s portrait, looking down at photos of the president on his phone, then back up at the portrait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHonestly he looks a little chubby,\u201d said Howe of the portrait, but \u201cbetter than I could do\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t know anything about the artist,\u201d said Howe, who voted for Trump. \u201cIt could be taken one way or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kaylee Williamson, an 18-year-old Trump supporter from Arkansas, got a photo with the portrait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think it looks like him. I guess he\u2019s smoother than all the other ones,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n