“Just finished this new painting,” McNaughton tweeted Tuesday. “Sean Hannity is the Modern-day Paul Revere.”
Upon seeing the painting, some Twitter users seemed to think it looked as if Hannity had committed arson.
“In Jon McNaughton’s latest painting,” tweeted Roll Call’s Ryan Kelly, “Sean Hannity appears to be escaping on horseback after setting the U.S. Capitol on fire.”
“But the Capitol wasn’t built until decades after Paul Rev- never mind,” tweeted BBC’s senior North America reporter Anthony Zurcher.
“This is what art looks like. Since he does softball interviews with Trump and controversial people, he should be honored in this fashion,” tweeted @Ohrealitybites, alongside a picture of Hannity’s face on a literal softball.
But not everyone treated the painting with derision. “Love this painting Jon,” tweeted @rromona. “@seanhannity has been sounding the alarm for years.”
“The way people react to the painting reflects their personal views,” McNaughton said in a statement to Newsweek. “My intentions are given in the reworking of the Longfellow poem cited in the YouTube video for the painting.”
In that video, a poem written by McNaughton called Modern-day Paul Revere is recited.
“For borne on the night wind of the past,” the poem says in part, “Through all our history to the last / In the hour of darkness and peril and need / The people will waken and listen to hear / The voice of Sean Hannity, loudly and clear.”
McNaughton has never shied away from political topics in his art. One of his most famous paintings, The Forgotten Man, depicts former president Barack Obama standing on a copy of the Constitution while the founding fathers stand behind with looks of disbelief on their faces. Hannity bought a copy of that painting.
Hannity also reportedly bought a copy of one of McNaughton’s paintings which show former president Barack Obama holding a burning copy of the Constitution.
“In 2011 I painted “One Nation Under Socialism.” At the time I was frustrated with Obama’s handling of the borders. The bottom of the Constitution is the shape of the southern border,” McNaughton tweeted.
McNaughton says on his website that he hopes people who view his art will try to “understand the deeper meaning.”
“There are three kinds of people who view my paintings: Those who like it, those who hate it, and those who simply don’t understand,” said McNaughton on his website. “I am especially interested in this last category. I hope my work will create conversation and reach people on a deeper level.”
Updated 1/23/2020 3:36 p.m. EST- This story was updated to include a statement from artist Jon McNaughton.