FACT CHECK: Did Obama’s Portrait Fall Off The Wall During The Unveiling Of Trump’s Portrait At The Colorado Capitol?

Aislinn Murphy | Assistant Managing Editor

A video shared on Facebook claims that former President Barack Obama’s portrait fell off the wall as President Donald Trump’s was unveiled in the Colorado State Capitol.

“Unveiling of the Trump Portrait in Colorado,” reads the caption. “Watch obummers portrait.”

Verdict: False

This video has been manipulated. Local news coverage shows that Obama’s portrait did not fall off the wall.

Fact Check:

The Colorado State Capitol Building has portraits of nearly 40 U.S. presidents hanging on the third-floor rotunda. On Aug. 1, state officials and members of the public gathered for the unveiling of Trump’s portrait.

This Facebook video, originally posted to Twitter, allegedly captures Obama’s portrait falling off the wall as officials remove the curtain from Trump’s painting. The sound of glass breaking follows shortly afterwards.

However, the footage of the unveiling has been manipulated. A video posted by the local CBS affiliate shows that Obama’s portrait remained fixed to the wall during the event. Thomas Peipert, a reporter for The Associated Press who attended the unveiling, also confirmed to the AP that it did not fall.

Contributing even more to its dubiousness, none of the people attending the event seem to react to the painting falling off the wall in the Facebook video. (RELATED: Did the Postal Service Unveil A Donald Trump Postage Stamp?)

The addition of Trump’s portrait to the Capitol’s Gallery of Presidents came after Colorado Republicans raised more than $10,000 on GoFundMe to commission Sarah Boardman to paint Trump’s portrait last year. She is the same artist who created the portrait of Obama that hangs in the State Capitol.

Aislinn Murphy

Assistant Managing Editor

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