The portrait of President Donald Trump in the Colorado State Capitol will be removed, according to the Colorado House Democrats, a day after the president called for what he says is a “distorted” painting of himself to be taken down.
“Republican leadership asked for it to be taken down,” a spokesperson for the Colorado House Democrats said in a statement to ABC News on Monday. “The Speaker and Majority Leader are focused on keeping Coloradans safe and reducing costs, not hanging portraits. If the GOP wants to spend time and money on which portrait of Trump hangs in the Capitol, then that’s up to them.”
President Donald Trump’s portrait hangs in the Colorado Capitol after an unveiling ceremony, Aug. 1, 2019, in Denver.
Thomas Peipert/AP, FILE
The spokesperson provided ABC News with a copy of a letter from the legislature’s Executive Committee of the Legislative Council directing staff “to immediately remove the portrait of President Donald Trump from its current display location on the third floor of the Capitol. The removed portrait shall be stored in a secure and appropriate location, as determined by the Director of Research of Legislative Council Staff, until further notice.”
Colorado state Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Republican, confirmed in a statement to ABC News that he requested that Trump’s portrait be taken down be replaced with one that “depicts his contemporary likeness.”
ABC News has reached out to the Colorado governor’s office.
In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump attacked the artist of the painting, claiming “she must have lost her talent as she got older” and that people from Colorado have complained about the work.
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
