Jim Carrey's latest target in his gallery of outrageous portraits is the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt.
The agency's administrator was embroiled in controversy after the EPA approved a Canadian energy company's pipeline expansion plan in March. When the pipeline project got the green light, Pruitt had been renting a fancy but favorably-priced condo that was linked to the company's Washington D.C. lobbying firm.
In the actor's provocative new painting, a caricature of another of Trump's appointees has a pipeline penetrating him from the rear with the pipe's contents spewing from his mouth. "I looked on Trivago. The cheapest room in Washington is a youth hostel with bunkbeds at $81 a night," Carrey tweeted on Thursday. "The $50 room Scott Pruitt got was a bribe from an energy lobbyist. Need your pipeline approved? Do it through Pruitt!"
Actor, comedian, and artist Carrey remains provocative with his depiction of the beleaguered Pruitt, who could be next through the revolving door of the Trump White House.
Pruitt's pipeline portrait is part of a collection taking aim at the Trump administration, which included a mockery of Donald Trump that Carrey shared on social media last week.
He tagged the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and suggested they consider an early submission of a painting of 45 titled, "You Scream. I Scream. Will We Ever Stop Screaming?"
Earlier this week, Carrey pitted conservative pundits Sean Hannity and Alex Jones against each other as pro-wrestlers, suggesting they should join the WWE where their "hyperbole will do less damage to the culture."
Carrey also made this portrait of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, calling her a liar and a monster.
The EPA and lobbying firm Williams & Jensen deny any correlation between the agency's approval of the pipeline expansion and Pruitt's condo leasing agreement, for which he was paying $50 a night.
Liz Bowman, a spokeswoman for the administrator declared, "Any attempt to draw that link is patently false."
However, the New York Times observed that whether or not any favors were accepted or granted, the action "can create an appearance of a conflict."
A spokesman for Williams & Jensen said that the lobbying firm did not intervene with the E.P.A. or Mr. Pruitt on the Enbridge pipeline expansion either before or after Mr. Pruitt was living in the condo owned in part by Vicki Hart, the wife of J. Steven Hart, the chairman of the firm.
The EPA chief is no stranger to controversy. The Trump appointee has been criticized for using public money for travel expenses, including flying first class and staying in luxury hotels.
Pruitt is also often criticized for his environmental views. He's not convinced carbon dioxide from human activity is responsible for climate change, and he denounces climate regulations established during Obama's administration.
Carrey's portrayal of Pruitt had the Internet sounding off on the painter's latest unveiling.
A couple Twitter users offered better lodging accommodations for the EPA administrator.
Others praised Carrey's stroke of genius on the canvas.
H/T - HuffingtonPost, Twitter, NYtimes
@winnieharlow/Instagram
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
