Is the striking resemblance between Barack Obama and Satan in the epic miniseries The Bible just a coincidence?
Political commentator and self-proclaimed Obama foe Glenn Beck was the first person to point out the unmistakable similarity between the Prince of Darkness and the U.S. commander-in-chief on Twitter last weekend.
On Saturday, Beck tweeted, "Anyone else think the Devil in #TheBible Sunday on History Channel looks exactly like That Guy?" A former personality on Fox News Channel, Beck refuses to refer to the president by name.
Within hours, the British tabloid newspaper and website The Daily Mail unofficially qualified the physical similarity with the lurid headline: "Why does the devil in 'The Bible' look exactly like President Obama?"
In short order, the Satan-Obama story became a hot topic on Twitter with thousands of other people pointing out the similarity. Noted @BrennaMiller1: "Just caught 5 minutes of #TheBible on History Channel…Satan looks like Obama.. say what?!"
In the miniseries, Satan is actually portrayed by Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni, a Moroccan actor who bears a strong resemblance to the American president, courtesy of makeup.
Airing in the U.S. on History Channel and in Canada on History, The Bible is produced for television by husband-and-wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, both of whom appeared on Beck's cable TV show in recent months. According to The Hollywood Reporter, however, Burnett also donated to Obama's presidential campaign in 2008.
The Obama-Satan similarity is already being compared to a similar incident that occurred on the first season of HBO's Game of Thrones in 2011. Sharp-eyed viewers pointed out that a fake George W. Bush head was impaled on a stick during one graphic first-season episode.
When the Bush lookalike incident went viral, HBO pulled the episode from rotation and froze DVD box set sales and iTunes sales until the offensive scene was removed.
So far, History Channel has not released any statement on the controversy on The Bible.