2024 Presidential Election

George Clooney wants President Biden to bow out, the couple from the margarita hijinks video got busted, and Donald Trump wants to play his opponent in golf ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live" Harvey and Charles react to George calling on Biden to make way for a new Democratic candidate, and why Clooney thinks Biden can't beat Trump at the ballot box.

D.L. Hughley is going scorched earth on George Clooney for calling on President Biden to drop out of the presidential race ... and he says Democrats are missing the big picture.

The comedian joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and ripped into George and his fellow Dems for asking for Biden to make way for a different candidate to run against Donald Trump.

D.L. says the whole tone of George's NYT op-ed letter calling on Biden to step down is "insulting" ... and he finds it alarming Clooney never mentioned Project 2025, a series of proposals D.L. warns will do serious damage to Americans, especially minorities.

10:35 AM PT -- Michael Douglas is seconding the motion put forward by George Clooney ... he was on "The View" Wednesday when he said George is making a "valid point."

MD added, he's "deeply, deeply concerned" -- not so much about "today or tomorrow, but a year down the line ... I worry." He also called out Biden's team for not preparing him better for the debate.

Worth noting, during the convo, Whoopi Goldberg makes it clear she's still riding with Biden ... for now.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden talked the talk about golf at their debate last month ... but No. 45 now wants the two to swing the swing, officially challenging POTUS to an 18-hole match.

Trump dared Biden to tee it up with him while riling up a packed house at his Doral golf course in Miami on Tuesday.

Trump told the audience he wanted to debate Biden again -- and then, as he did during their first verbal sparring session back on June 27, he brought up their golf games.

Barron Trump made a surprise appearance at his father's campaign rally in Florida Tuesday night, and he quickly became the crowd favorite ... even briefly overshadowing The Donald.

18-year-old Barron was sitting in the front row near the stage where Donald was giving a speech to the packed audience at his Doral golf course in Miami as he seeks a second term as president of the United States.

Donald  -- standing at a podium with a mic -- introduced Barron and told him to stand up, which he did.

6:28 PM PT -- George Stephanopoulos tells TMZ in a statement from his rep, "Earlier today, I responded to a question from a passerby. I shouldn't have." An ABC spokesperson tells TMZ, "George expressed his own point of view and not the position of ABC News."

George Stephanopoulos just made a stunning comment on the streets of New York ... telling a pedestrian he doesn't think President Joe Biden can serve another term.

The 'GMA' anchor was out and about Tuesday afternoon on 5th Avenue, wearing workout clothes, when the pedestrian approached him and asked, "Do you think Biden should step down? You've talked to him more than anybody else has lately." George's response -- "I DON'T THINK HE CAN SERVE 4 MORE YEARS."

The Democratic National Committee is taking shots at Donald Trump for working with Fyre Festival honcho Billy McFarland, saying convicted felons flock together.

Here's the deal ... Rolling Stone reports Billy is helping connect Trump with different rappers to boost his campaign and "court Black voters."

Billy, of course, is famous for his failed Fyre Fest a couple years back in the Bahamas -- a disaster that landed him behind bars for wire fraud and sparked a couple documentaries about the festival.

Congressman Adam Schiff -- a prominent Democrat has added his voice to the growing number questioning Joe Biden's mental fitness.

The California congressman -- who's currently running for Senate -- stopped by "Meet the Press" Sunday morning to discuss the presidential race ...and, take a listen to his comments 'cause he's not sounding super confident in the sitting prez.

AS says Biden's debate performance has Americans wondering if he's up to the task of beating Donald Trump ... and, he says if it was just based on their past records, Biden would crush DJT.

Joe Biden says there's no need for him to take a formal cognitive test to prove his abilities to lead the nation ... claiming his involvement in daily world issues should be enough to show he's up for the gig a second time around.

In a full ABC special Friday, Biden fought hard to defend himself from his rough June 27 debate performance ... explaining to George Stephanopoulos he was just down with a serious bout of cold -- so bad he took a COVID test.

While he says he didn't end up having COVID, Joe insisted exhaustion also played a part in his performance. He also admitted he didn't listen to his instincts in terms of preparing -- so looks like a variety of things contributed to his bad night.

Kamala Harris is currently the top choice among fellow democrats to replace Joe Biden at the head of the ticket if he bows out of the presidential race -- and there's been a recent shift within the party to try to make that happen -- yet Donald Trump couldn't be happier with that possible scenario, TMZ has learned.

Former Democratic Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan tells TMZ ... the American people are realizing it's not realistic to move forward with President Biden after the commander-in-chief's disastrous June 27 debate against Trump -- his Republican rival. Instead, many dems are beginning to recognize that Kamala is their path forward.

"She is the only candidate [because] she is VP and on the ticket with him that will inherit his war chest and campaign infrastructure," according to Ryan, who lost reelection to J.D. Vance in 2020 after more than 20 years in office.

Donald Trump was caught on video talking major trash about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris – never once holding back in his slash-and-burn assessment of his democratic rivals.

In shocking footage obtained by the Daily Beast, the former republican U.S. President was seen sitting in a golf cart next to his son Barron while chatting with a bunch of people on a fairway. One of them was filming Trump as he tore Biden to shreds in the 44-second clip.

It starts with Trump asking the group how he did in the June 27 debate before labeling Biden a “broken-down pile of crap." Trump also referred to the current Commander in Chief as a "bad guy," who was quitting the 2024 presidential race and bragged about pushing him out.

Diddy is moving on, President Biden may be doing the same when it comes to the White House, and Magic Johnson looks like he wants to move to Europe ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First on "TMZ Live" Harvey and Charles explain why Diddy is leaving town for good and unloading his $70 million Los Angeles estate.

President Biden is offering up an explanation for his lackluster performance debating Donald Trump ... he says his travel schedule had him running on fumes, and feeling sleepy.

Biden made the excuse Tuesday at a campaign fundraiser in McLean, Virginia ... and said he almost fell asleep on the debate stage.

POTUS blamed his lack of energy on being sapped from long trips in the weeks before Thursday's first presidential debate, including a trip to France in early June for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

A high-ranking BBC presenter wants to see political violence in the United States, Ray J wants back in the BET Awards and Ed Sheeran wants England's soccer team to play well to his music ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live," Harvey and Charles react to BBC presenter David Aaronovitch calling for President Biden to have Donald Trump murdered.

Ivanka Trump is addressing her father's felony conviction for the first time ... saying it's agonizing to see what's happening to her pops.

Donald Trump's daughter was clearly impacted by his New York trial, in which he was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush money case -- telling the "Lex Fridman Podcast," "It's painful to experience, but ultimately, I wish it didn't have to be this way."

Lex Fridman asked her about all the legal turmoil going on with Donald and how it's impacting her.

President Biden's debate gaffes are ticking off some folks who work in the White House, because they've reportedly been kept away from him ... and now it's causing a divide among staffers.

Alex Thompson, the national political correspondent for Axios, joined us Monday on "TMZ Live," and broke down the disconnect happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Alex says lots of people who work with Biden are only given access to him between 10 AM and 4 PM when POTUS is at his sharpest, and that's why they were so shocked to see his slip-ups at Thursday's debate, which started at 9 PM ET -- a time when Alex says Biden is more prone to make mental mistakes.