'No bias': Colorado artist denies Trump’s claim of ‘distorted’ portrait, says business now at risk

The Colorado artist behind a now-removed portrait of US President Donald Trump has denied claims by the president that she deliberately distorted his likeness, saying his comments have caused significant harm to her business.
Sarah Boardman, a Colorado Springs-based painter, responded after Trump took aim at her work in a March 23 post on Truth Social. “Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado… was purposefully distorted,” Trump wrote. He also claimed the artist “must have lost her talent as she got older,” adding that he preferred no portrait at all to the one that had hung in the Colorado State Capitol.
Boardman, who also painted official portraits of Barack Obama and George W Bush displayed in the same gallery, firmly rejected the accusation. As per news agency AP, she said in a statement, “I completed the portrait accurately, without ‘purposeful distortion,’ political bias, or any attempt to caricature the subject, actual or implied.”

She explained that the Capitol advisory committee selected the reference photograph, monitored the portrait’s progress and approved the final result. “I fulfilled the task per my contract,” she added.
The portrait had hung in the Capitol since 2019, funded by $10,000 raised by Colorado Republicans. It was removed the morning after Trump’s remarks and placed in museum storage.
As per new agency AFP, the Democrat-led legislature confirmed the decision to take it down followed Trump’s public criticism.
While Trump claimed “many people” in Colorado had complained about the painting, Boardman disputed this, saying she had received “overwhelmingly positive reviews and feedback” during its six-year display. “That has changed for the worse since President Trump’s comments,” she wrote.
Boardman also expressed concern about the personal and professional fallout. “The additional allegations… are now directly and negatively impacting my business of over 41 years which now is in danger of not recovering,” she said.
Trump praised the Obama portrait, also painted by Boardman, as looking “wonderful” in contrast to his own, which he described as “truly the worst.”
Republican Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen has since said the Trump portrait should be replaced with one that reflects his “contemporary likeness.” However, a replacement has not yet been commissioned.