The drama at the Colorado Capitol just took a very artsy turn. It’s Trump vs. The Painter — and no, this isn’t a new Netflix thriller, it’s real life. 🍿
Meet Sarah A. Boardman, a seasoned artist who’s been painting portraits longer than most of us have been forgetting our MySpace passwords. She’s the Picasso behind the now-controversial Donald Trump portrait that hung proudly in the Colorado State Capitol for six whole years… until Trump decided it made him look like a “Cheeto dipped in regret” (okay, not his exact words, but close enough).
So what happened?
Trump hopped on his favorite social media soapbox, Truth Social (aka GrievanceBook), and roasted Boardman, claiming she must’ve “lost her talent as she got older.” Yikes. That’s basically the art-world equivalent of calling your grandma’s cookies “mid.” 🚫🍪
But Boardman wasn’t about to let that slide.
In a statement that could’ve been painted with fire emojis, she set the record straight. First, she didn’t freestyle this portrait with finger paints and a grudge — it was an official gig. The Colorado State Capitol Advisory Committee (yes, that’s a thing, and yes, they’re fancy) hired her and approved every step of the process. From initial sketches to final brushstroke, they were like the Simon Cowells of portrait painting — and they gave her the golden buzzer.
Boardman insists she didn’t try to caricature Trump (read: she didn’t make his hands that small on purpose), and the portrait got lots of praise from people who saw it IRL. That is… until Trump came in like a wrecking ball made of hairspray and ego.
And now? Boardman says the presidential roast has tanked her business of 41 years — which is heartbreaking because the only thing that should be tanking right now is Trump’s approval ratings (again). She says the backlash from Trump’s comments has made her artistic career shakier than a bobblehead in a bumpy Uber.
Trump clapped back harder than a Real Housewife at a wine tasting, saying he’d rather have no portrait at all than be “immortalized” by Boardman. Colorado officials eventually pulled the painting from the Capitol rotunda like it was an expired milk carton in the political fridge.
We reached out to Trump for a response — but so far, crickets. (Maybe he’s busy commissioning a new portrait from someone who specializes in very flattering oil filters.)
Art is subjective, the tea is hot, and the Capitol rotunda is now a little less… orange.
