Flames from hell? That’s just the Truth-O-Meter burning over claims a photo shows Obama as Satan
If your time is short
- This isn’t a picture of former President Barack Obama.
Get thee behind me, fake news about former President Barack Obama dressed as Satan.
An old allegation about the 44th president is recirculating on social media. A screenshot of a blog that has previously peddled false and misleading claims shows an image of a man in a silver headdress with a mask and horns and this headline: “Leaked image of Barack Obama dressed as Satan goes viral.”
Text above the screenshot says: “Pictures of Barack Obama dressed up as Baphomet (Lucifer) has been photometrically authenticated.”
An Instagram post sharing this image was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The story is from 2018 and juxtaposes the photo of the person in a headdress with a photo of Obama. “Side by side, the person dressed as Satan looks just like Obama,” the caption says.
Although it claims to have “photometrically authenticated” that the person in the headdress is Obama, the basis of this storyline is speculation.
Snopes dug into this claim in 2018 and found other photos taken of this person in the headdress.
We rate this claim Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Instagram post, Jan. 27, 2023
Neon Nettle, Leaked Image of Barack Obama Dressed as Satan Goes Viral, June 16, 2018
Twenty Five Hundred, NOTES from the BURN- Part II, Sept. 22, 2015
Burner Costumes, Fantasy, archived July 4, 2018
