#Clooney mistaken for Epstein in viral photos with Chris Wallace

Getting mistaken for George Clooney? That’s a good thing. Actually being Clooney and getting mistaken for dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein? That is a terrible thing.

The silver-haired actor’s charmed life took on a bit of tarnish last week when social-media folk with partisan agendas began posting photos that purported to show Chris Wallace of Fox News on Epstein’s so-called Pedophile Island with its namesake child molester. The image depicted a handsome, affluent-looking, middle-aged man assisting Wallace onto a boat. One post on Facebook read, “No wonder Chris Wallace is a staunch anti-Trumper. He’s been to Epstein Island.”

The implication was that the Fox newsman — who drew heat after President Trump insisted that Wallace gave him unfair treatment during last week’s debate — was hanging out with Epstein. In fact, as noted by FactCheck.org, the helping hand was being extended by Clooney in 2012 when Wallace visited the movie star at his digs in elegant Lake Como, Italy. A spokesman for Wallace confirmed the fraudulent ID to The Post: “This was debunked last week.” Representatives for Clooney did not respond.

According to FactCheck, this sort of dirty ruse is not uncommon. The site has run stories about “similar instances in which social media posts have sought to discredit political figures by tying them to Epstein.” In fact, there was one that showed Trump kissing 11-year-old daughter Ivanka on the side of the head as a smiling Epstein looked on. Veracity-wise there is a major problem: The originally innocent image is doctored, with Epstein added in to make Trump look unsavory.

As for Wallace’s visit to Lake Como, in a 2012 video interview with Politico, he said, “It was great. It was everything you would imagine it would be. Great food, great wine, great talk.”

That said, he probably could have lived without a shutterbug snapping pics near the boat.