President Trump

Jared Kushner says he talked with his good buddy Kanye West about lots of things during their infamous pow wow ... and he's not denying they discussed the 2020 Election.

President Trump's son-in-law and trusted aide spoke Thursday morning at the White House about his weekend summit with Kanye -- describing their face-to-face as a great discussion about a lot of things.

Jared was asked directly if they discussed the election at all, and ya gotta watch his response. He did not firmly stamp out the theory many people have expressed -- that Kanye's Presidential campaign is Trump-engineered purely to spoil Joe Biden's chances

Jared points out he's been pals with Kanye for about 10 years, and says Yeezy has great ideas for what he would like to see happen in the country, and admires a lot of President Trump's initiatives.

Remember, Kanye sat down with Trump, Kushner and Vice President Mike Pence back in 2018 inside the Oval Office.

And, don't forget Rudy Giuliani, another Trump crony, told us over the weekend he believes Kanye remains a secret Trump supporter -- implying they're all in on this together.

A Milwaukee Councilman is slamming Republicans for what he believes is a trick to lure black voters in Wisconsin to cast their ballots for Kanye West and steal votes from Joe Biden ... but he predicts it will backfire.

Cavalier Johnson has been the Alderman for Milwaukee's 2nd district, and he's sounding the alarm for what he calls a "shameful, pitiful" ploy attempting to take advantage of a man struggling with mental illness.

There have been reports Republican operatives are behind Kanye's efforts to get on the Wisconsin ballot. As you know, Wisconsin was a swing state in 2016 and if it's close again, a spoiler like Kanye could make all the difference.

Johnson says ... "It’s hard to imagine how this president and the GOP could top the racism, xenophobia, white supremacy, COVID failures, apologies for Russia, pocketing millions in taxpayer dollars with visits to Trump-branded golf courses, etc.," but he accuses them of doing exactly that in Wisconsin.

Despite his outrage and disgust, the councilman doesn't think the plan will work, saying when the word gets out it will further unite the black community in support of Biden.

As we reported ... Kanye has enlisted the help of a third-party organization in order to acquire enough signatures needed to get him on the presidential ballot, especially in major swing states like Wisconsin and Ohio.

Saw this coming from a mile away ... but here's President Donald Trump going scorched earth on the NBA kneelers -- calling the demonstration "disgraceful."

"When I see people kneeling during the playing and disrespecting our flag and national anthem, what I do personally is turn off the game," Trump said Wednesday morning in a phone interview with "FOX & Friends."

"I think it's disgraceful. We work with [the NBA], we worked with them very hard trying to get open. I was pushing for them to get open. Then I see everybody kneeling during the anthem. That's not acceptable to me."

"When I see them kneeling during the game, I just turn off the game. I have no interest in the game. Let me tell you this, plenty of other people out there, too."

During the call, Trump also claimed NBA ratings are way down -- when according to TV sports media outlets, the rating are up 14% from the average before the season was suspended.

Trump added, "We have to stand up for our flag, stand up for our country. A lot of people agree with me. If I'm wrong, I'm going to lose an election. That's okay with me. I will always stand for our flag."

Trump has always hated kneeling -- and publicly blasted Colin Kaepernick and other NFL stars for taking a knee back in 2017 ... calling for the NFL fire any "son of a bitch" who doesn't stand for the Star-Spangled Banner.

Ever since the NBA rebooted last week, just about every player, coach, ref and staff member inside the Bubble have taken a knee during the anthem before games.

Only 4 people -- 2 players, 2 coaches -- have stood for the anthem.

LeBron James, who took a knee, said he hopes the demonstration makes Colin Kaepernick proud and helps to shine a spotlight on police brutality and social injustice affecting the Black community and others.

During the call, Trump also claimed he's done more for the Black community than any other president -- with the "possible exception of Abraham Lincoln."

Michelle Obama's struggling through 2020 -- she just revealed she's "dealing with what she calls some form of "low-grade depression" ... partly brought on by President Trump's actions.

The former First Lady dropped a new episode of her podcast on Spotify Wednesday, and while discussing mental health with former NPR anchor Michele Norris -- said she's got the blues "not just because of the quarantine but because of the racial strife, and just seeing this administration watching the hypocrisy of it, day in and day out, is dispiriting."

During the chitchat, Michelle talked about nationwide civil unrest and Trump's response to it -- and said it's all bringing her down. She added, "I don't think I'm unusual in that."

Michelle was describing what millions of us have been feeling over the last few months -- "I have to say, that waking up to the news, waking up to how this administration has or has not responded, waking up to yet another story of a Black man or Black person somehow being dehumanized or hurt or killed or falsely accused of something, it is exhausting. And, it has led to a weight that I haven't felt in my life in a while."

Kanye West is getting super serious in his bid for the White House ... his campaign is beefing up its staff and bringing in tons of folks with political know-how.

Sources close to Kanye tell TMZ ... Yeezy's hired a crack team of political advisors and people with experience to help him navigate how to get on the ballot in more states.

We're told Kanye's advisors are hiring people to work on the campaign. They're also recruiting volunteers, and they've contracted third-party organizations to assist with spreading campaign awareness and getting boots on the ground across the United States.

Our sources say the campaign's main objective right now is gathering enough signatures to get Kanye on the ballot in each of the remaining states.

We're told volunteers are canvassing for signatures in West Virginia -- hitting popular spots like restaurants and shopping malls -- and campaign staffers are working in New York ahead of Thursday's deadline to qualify for the ballot.

In West Virginia, the Secretary of State's office tells us Kanye needs 7,144 signatures by Monday to get on the ballot. If Yeezy gets enough signatures, it will trigger a review to verify every person is indeed a registered voter.

TMZ broke the story ... Kanye's facing a huge hurdle back in his home state, Illinois, where there are several objections over the validity of signatures gathered to get Ye on that state's ballot.

As we reported ... Yeezy's already submitted paperwork to get on the ballot in New Jersey, Oklahoma, Illinois and Missouri.

Donald Trump reportedly invited himself to throw out a first pitch at Yankees Stadium in a fit of jealousy over Dr. Anthony Fauci ... and was forced to cancel on it all when he couldn't actually make it happen.

Multiple sources familiar with the situation told The New York Times that's how things went down when POTUS made the surprising announcement last week that he'd throw out a ceremonial first pitch for the Yanks on Aug. 15.

Per the report, Trump was so bothered by the attention Fauci was getting in the leadup to his first pitch at Nationals Park on Opening Day last Thursday that he informed staffers to call the Yanks to get him on the mound.

The NYT says BOTH the Yankees and White House personnel were surprised by Trump's wishes ... and never officially locked in a date despite Trump saying they had.

Of course, Donald -- who was reportedly already booked elsewhere for Aug. 15 -- pulled out of the event just days after the announcement ... saying in a tweet his focus on the coronavirus wouldn't allow him to make it.

Trump added, "We will make it later in the season!"

Donald has never thrown out a first pitch since taking over office in 2016 ... but the Times says he DOES have a longstanding informal offer from the Yankees' team president to throw one out for them at some point.

Rudy Giuliani just went scorched earth on the MLB ... calling the league's anthem kneelers "hypocritical" -- and saying the Black Lives Matter supporters in baseball are "disgraceful."

The former New York City mayor and diehard Yankees fan ripped the league Friday morning ... just hours after several players -- including Dodgers star Mookie Betts -- knelt for not only the national anthem, but in support of BLM as well.

"All those ball players, including the Yankees, taking a knee during the National Anthem of the country that made them millionaires is hypocritical," Donald Trump's attorney said.

"Support for BLM, which is provoking attacks on our law enforcement and innocent people all over America, is disgraceful."

As we previously reported, players on the Dodgers, Giants, Nationals and Yankees joined in support of racial equality prior to their Opening Day games Thursday.

The stadium jumbotrons played pro-BLM messages ... and afterward, the teams grabbed a long piece of black fabric and knelt with it to show unity.

Some players then went on to kneel for the ensuing national anthem.

Of course, Giuliani's disdain for it all echoes Trump's ... the President has repeatedly slammed the kneeling protests throughout the last few months, and recently called the demonstrations "a sign of great disrespect."

Several S.F. Giants players and coaches -- including manager Gabe Kapler -- knelt for the national anthem Monday ... and Donald Trump took aim at them afterward, calling it all a "great disrespect."

Here's the deal ... before the Giants took on the A's in an exhibition match in Oakland, Kapler and a few others decided to kneel during the pregame song to protest social injustice.

One of the players involved in the demonstration was Mike Yastrzemski, the grandson of legendary Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.

The MLB praised the Giants for the move ... defending the team on social media from critics and writing, "The players and coaches are using their platforms to peacefully protest."

When one Twitter user said the team should not politicize the game ... the MLB responded, "Supporting human rights is not political."

Giants brass also weighed in on the kneeling ... celebrating the team for the moves as well, with president Farhan Zaidi saying "we're proud of our players and staff."

"We support those who knelt to peacefully protest racial injustice and those who stood to express love of country," Zaidi said. "We do not see these as mutually exclusive sentiments and believe the freedom to express both is what our country is about."

But, just hours later, President Trump chimed in on Twitter ... and he was furious to see the kneeling protests return to sporting events.

"Looking forward to live sports," Trump said, "but any time I witness a player kneeling during the National Anthem, a sign of great disrespect for our Country and our Flag, the game is over for me!"

Doesn't seem the comments are going to deter baseball players ... 'cause in San Diego on Monday night, Angels pitcher Keynan Middleton also took a knee and raised his fist during the anthem.

Tiger Woods says he's in FULL support of the Black Lives Matter movement ... saying on Tuesday, "change is fantastic."

"That's how society develops," the golf legend added in his first meeting with reporters since announcing his return to the PGA Tour this month. "That's how we grow, that's how we move forward, that's how we have fairness."

But, Tiger says he'll only consider it a success if people protect themselves while fighting for social justice.

"I think change is fantastic but as long as we make changes without hurting the innocent," Tiger said. "Unfortunately that has happened. Hopefully, that doesn't happen in the future but a movement and change is fantastic."

Of course, Tiger's good friend, President Trump, has had completely opposite opinions of the movement ... POTUS recently called a BLM mural "denigrating" and a "symbol of hate."

Unclear if Woods and Trump have spoken about it at all ... but Donald has continuously praised Tiger since taking office -- even famously giving the 44-year-old golfer the Presidential Medal of Freedom last year.

The organizer of a "Trump Supporter Gathering" at the site of slain singer Selena's statue in Corpus Christi, TX is getting shut down by the city, but he's vowing to do it anyway.

We broke the story ... Joe Michael Perez already got threatened with a lawsuit from Selena's dad, Abraham Quintanilla, Jr., for allegedly infringing on her name, image and likeness for the July 11 event. Now, he's also running the risk of becoming a criminal.

Shelly Rios, Corpus Christi's Interim Program Manager for Cultural Services & Special Events tells us ... Perez would normally be issued a "spontaneous demonstration permit" for his planned public event, but it got rejected ... and not because of his politics.

Instead, the problem is the coronavirus. Texas currently doesn't allow for groups of more than 10 people to congregate in a space, so Rios says if Perez and other Trump supporters show up at the statue ... law enforcement will instruct them to leave.

Perez says his group of at least 150 people is defiant, and still planning to go. He says if police arrive, he'll tell them they are there peacefully and won't leave.

As we told you ... Perez has been using a photo of him taken last month -- when he put a Trump hat on the Selena statue -- to promote his Trump-stumping event on Facebook.

Selena's father warned Perez to delete the Facebook event page and stop producing Selena-related merchandise ... or he'd sue him.

If you're an Angeleno, don't be surprised to see a massive display of Trump and Confederate pride blazing down your street any moment now, 'cause one is on the way.

A parade of lifted trucks was spotted Saturday, all departing a Smart and Final parking lot in Santa Monica ... one after another in what seemed like an endless line of diesels. They all had flags flying from their beds too -- Trump 2020 ones, Confederate battle flags and U.S.A. flags too, of course. It's clear ... these folks were making a statement -- a statement of day's past.

Eyewitnesses tell us there were at least 75 trucks packed into the lot, and we're told this seemed planned and staged. Each truck had at least two people, so the number of bodies rolling these puppies out was in the triple digits ... upwards of 300.

The good news is that right out the gate, there wasn't too much of a scene or ruckus ... unless you consider the noisy departure itself to be rowdy. It kinda is, frankly.

Donald Trump's idea of a 4th of July celebration was igniting a culture war, as 7,500 of his followers exposed themselves to a massive coronavirus outbreak.

Check out the crowd at Mount Rushmore ... ZERO social distancing, per the Governor herself, who believes crowding together is a symbol of freedom. In fact, the chairs were zip-tied together because of fire code regulations. Masks were few and far between and the crowd sat for hours, cheering and doing the things that spread the virus.

And, speaking of the virus ... it's hitting close to Trump's home. Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, has tested positive.

As for the President ... his focus was on America's awakening, which he clearly thinks is a bad thing. Of the protesters, he said they are trying to "end America" by engaging in a  "merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children."

Not even a global pandemic can hurt President Trump's golf game ... U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham says POTUS went OFF on the course over the weekend, shooting a stunning 74!!!

FYI ... a 74 is professional golfer territory -- most amateurs struggle to break 100 ... so yeah, Graham says Trump's swing is in top shape at the moment.

The two were spotted out at Trump's National Golf Club in Virginia over the weekend ... and when Graham was asked about the round on "Fox And Friends" on Thursday -- he said Trump dominated.

"I've never seen him play this well," the S.C. senator said. "I mean, he's got more on his shoulders -- I'm hoping, 'OK, you know he's a little distracted.' He beat me like a drum!"

Graham says Trump carded a 74 ... which would be just 2-over par on both courses at the club -- a staggering score for a guy who's got so much on his plate at the moment.

CNN was able to shoot some footage of Donald on the tee at one hole ... but no word on where that shot ended up.

Of course, Trump's touted himself as a hell of a golfer over the years ... but guys like Samuel L. Jackson and Oscar De La Hoya swear he's a cheater on the links.

Then again, John Daly told us last year Trump is definitely NOT out there fudging scorecards.

Corey LaJoie's #32 car is getting a new paint job for NASCAR's big race Sunday ... his team says it's decking out the ride in a "Trump 2020" theme for the Brickyard 400.

Go Fas Racing revealed the new paint scheme Wednesday ... saying it's partnered with the pro-Trump Patriots of America PAC to create the red, white and blue whip for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway race.

"I am honored to be part of the President's re-election campaign through the Patriots of America PAC," team owner Archie St. Hilaire said in a statement.

"As a Trump 2020 supporter, this team will do everything possible to secure victory on and off the track electing President Donald Trump to a second term."

The Ford Mustang will feature "Trump 2020" on both the hood and the rear-quarter panels ... while also displaying "Your Vote Counts" emblems.

The race is set to go down on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT in Indiana.

"With an estimated 75 million NASCAR fans out there, I was surprised that about 15 million of those fans are not registered voters," 28-year-old LaJoie said after the ride's paint scheme was announced.

"I will give my best effort to get NASCAR fans registered to vote, through our team efforts on and off the track. When they see the car, hopefully, it makes them race to the polls in November."

LaJoie has 5 top 20 finishes in the Cup Series this season ... notably finishing 8th in February's Daytona 500.

FYI, Bubba Wallace -- who's been racing in a "Black Lives Matter" car recently -- finished in 3rd at the 2019 Brickyard 400. He'll be back in Indy to compete this weekend as well.