The artist who sketched Donald Trump's arraignment earlier this month in Miami responded to criticisms that he depicted the former president as younger and more physically fit than he really is, telling the Boston Globe that he was not trying to make Trump look better than he does.
William J. Hennessy Jr. was one of three sketch artists who attended Trump's arraignment in federal court.
He said his goal was to capture the scenes in the courtroom like a camera as cameras and phones were not permitted.
"I don't editorialize," he insisted. "I just draw what I see," adding that his time in the courtroom "was a pretty stressful day, a long day."
Critics said the portrayals of Trump by Hennessy were wildly inaccurate. One Twitter user complained that it looked as if the sketch artist "was going off of a photo of Trump from 40 years ago."
Another went even further, writing in a tweet "that last sketch of Trump looks almost exactly like the recent photo of his son Barron."
Someone else commented sarcastically, "Is this William J Hennessy Jr's audition to do Trump's official White House portrait?"
Hennessy, 65, told the Boston Globe that he took the criticism in stride, pointing out that "it's rare I get any kind of feedback."
He said that he received a mix of responses to his sketches of Trump, with about half being favorable and the other half criticizing him.
"Some said he looked too thin, too young, and some said he looked too good," Hennessy said, adding that the negative comments appeared to come from people who "didn't care much for Trump."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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