Utah artist Jon McNaughton has become known for his depictions of President Donald Trump. As an ardent supporter of the president, McNaughton often portrays Trump in a heroic light.
His collection of paintings includes a scene where the president and some of his staff are crossing a literal swamp in D.C. Then there’s the one showing Trump holding a magnifying glass up to Robert Mueller’s face — it’s called “Expose the Truth.”
And last week the 53-year-old Provo-based artist released his latest addition, the president making a run for the end zone.
In “All-American Trump” the president is shown in an old-timey red uniform and leather helmet with the number 45 emblazoned across his chest. He’s running ahead of blue-uniformed Democrats like former Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who struggling to take him down.
McNaughton described the scene on his YouTube channel this way:
“Today’s politics are rough. You have to push hard for everything you get. The field is muddy and the players can get dirty. But we have a president that has risen above the rest.”
Over the weekend Salt Lake Tribune cartoonist Pat Bagley offered his spin on the Trump painting.
McNaughton, a graduate of Brigham Young University, is known to many Latter-day Saints for his paintings of Jesus Christ.
In an email to KUER McNaughton described his reasons for shifting to more political work.
“I mix my views of God and patriotism all the time,” McNaughton wrote. “The Founders did that and even the founder of the LDS church [Joseph Smith] ran for President before he was killed.”
McNaughton said some of his fans wish he’d stay out of politics but he doesn’t see any distinction. Or put another way, he said the separation of church and state does not apply to his paintings.
