A sketch artist who captured former President Donald J. Trump’s likeness during his arraignment in a Miami federal court June 13 has responded to critics who complained he made the beleaguered ex-president look “too good-looking.”
William J. Hennessy Jr., 65, was one of three artists commissioned to sketch the court proceedings stemming from Trump’s 37-count federal indictment over allegedly mishandled classified documents discovered at his Mar-A Lago home in August 2022. Hennessy’s illustrations of the historic arraignment caused quite the stir on social media, with some users claiming he made Trump look better than he appears in real life.
“Is this William J Hennessy Jr’s audition to do Trumps official Whitehouse portrait?” a social media user observed. While one Twitter user complained Hennessy made Trump look “young and thin,” another claimed Hennessy’s rendition was fairly accurate, if he was going off a Trump photo from 40 years ago.
Tbh it’s not that it’s wildly inaccurate, it just looks like the sketch artist Bill Hennessy was going off of a photo of Trump from 40 years ago pic.twitter.com/5yYLfsHbsD
— Dave Jorgenson 🌻 (@davejorgenson) June 14, 2023
Vanity Fair special correspondent Molly Jong-Fast also weighed in on the sketches, calling at least one a “wildly flattering portrait” of the former President. Another user wondered if the likeness was actually that of Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham.
An anti-Trump account contrasted Hennessy’s work with sketch artist Jane Rosenberg’s, whose depiction of a scowling Trump in the same courtroom was opined to be a better likeness. “Jane Rosenberg once again captured the vulgarity of Donald Trump. His second arrest & arraignment,” the user stated.
“It’s rare I get any kind of feedback,” Hennessy told the Boston Globe, adding the negative feedback he did receive was primarily from people who “didn’t much care for Trump.” (RELATED: ‘Wretched Orange Man’: Twitter Official Overseeing Misinformation Efforts Is Anti-Trump Partisan Who Donated To Planned Parenthood)
“Some said he looked too thin, too young, and some said he looked too good,” Hennessy said of the feedback about his illustrations of the former president.
Though some accused Hennessy of glossing over Trump’s image, Hennessy said there was no agenda behind his sketches, telling the outlet, “I don’t editorialize. I just draw what I see.”