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Sen. John Thune says becoming President used to be the dream for Senators, but now the bloom is off the rose ... the job's less about being qualified and a good leader and more about being famous and loud ... like a certain ex-President.

The Republican Senator from South Dakota was at the Reagan National Airport in D.C. Friday when he took a thinly veiled shot and Donald Trump ... suggesting the presidency is far less appealing due to the celeb and social media-obsessed culture.

Thune tells us the "kind of person" who would be successful as Commander in Chief these days has to run a different type of campaign than traditional methods, have a big online following ... and be more "ostentatious" than presidential.

It's a pretty stunning statement coming from a Senator, who even cites a John McCain quote about how every Senator aspires to become Prez .... until they're embalmed.

Sure seems Thune's not down with aspiring to POTUS status ... so don't expect him to throw his hat in the ring for 2024, but his take seems like it also applies to other senators as well.

Chris Pratt's been trending for posting horribly bigoted tweets from back before his Marvel Universe days, but he says the backlash is unwarranted ... because the tweets are phony.

A spokesperson for the "Guardians of the Galaxy" star tells TMZ ... he never posted the offensive messages that began circulating Wednesday morning. They appeared to be from 2012 and 2013, with one saying "calling another n***a a 'n****r' is hilarous idc" ... and the other "Muslims scare me so much."

You can see why fans would be upset, but Pratt's rep says, "Chris never tweeted the offensive things that are being circulated today. Any suggestion that he did is not only totally false but also defamatory."

Twitter, where the fake tweets have trended all day, was also suspicious, and a senior exec for the platform says they "strongly believe these [tweets] to be fake."

There were 2 other tweets circulating, but they were relatively innocuous jokes. Pratt's rep confirms one of them -- suggesting all the Miss America contestants are super skinny -- is real.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is getting hit with one of the side effects of holding elected office in the 21st century -- she's getting sued for blocking someone on Twitter.

The freshman Republican congresswoman from Georgia just got slapped with a lawsuit by a political action committee that's actually pretty popular online. It's called MeidasTouch, and they're known for criticizing politicians -- especially right-leaning ones -- and getting unique hashtags trending every now and then ... much like The Lincoln Project or Really American.

Anyway, according to the docs -- obtained by TMZ and filed by Ben Meiselas and Michael Popok -- Meidas says Greene blocked them at some point after Jan. 6 ... which they believe was in direct response to her being ticked off about their scrutiny/commentary of her for allegedly posting conspiracy theories.

As a result, Meidas says it's unable to view any of her tweets from her official account -- @mtgreenee from which she more often tweets personal views -- which they claim is unconstitutional, because she's a public political figure.

In the suit, Meidas claims she can't ice someone out just because she disagrees with them.

It's interesting ... they cite another famous example of political Twitter blocking involving Trump ... who was sued a few years ago for blocking someone in a similar situation. In that case, the federal court ruled it was unconstitutional to block specific viewpoints in this way ... although Trump's lawyers are trying to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

Donald Trump's banned from Twitter, but he can still have a voice on Ja Rule's new app ... but Ja says he has a few ground rules, and the Proud Boys aren't welcome.

The rapper tells TMZ ... the ex-Prez can start a page on his celebrity booking app, Iconn, and start fresh with a clean slate ... which is more than almost every digital platform's willing to give him these days.

As you know ... Trump's permanently banned from Twitter because of the Capitol riots he's accused of inciting, and a bunch of other apps are keeping the former President in social media timeout.

Ja says Trump's welcome on Iconn, as long as he doesn't use it to rile up his base and do "crazy things." Ja says any funny business from Trump, like bringing in the Proud Boys, will get him booted.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is under fire again, and this time from other members of Congress ... Rep. Cori Bush claims a maskless Greene berated her in a Capitol hallway.

The newly-elected Congresswoman from Missouri sounds shaken by the alleged incident ... she says she's moving her office on Capitol Hill as far away from Greene's as possible.

Rep. Bush says Greene wasn't alone during the incident ... she had backup from her staff. She also points out Greene had already targeted her and others on social media.

As we've reported ... Greene, the freshman Congresswoman from Georgia, is getting heat for old Facebook activity suggesting she was cool with executing Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. MTG says it's just "fake news."

Rep. Bush doesn't want to just move her office away from Greene's ... she says she wants MTG booted from Congress for inciting the insurrection.

Jon Stewart's so pissed about the Robinhood controversy, he's doing something he's never done before ... all to stand up for the little guy against Wall Street big wigs.

The comedian and host fired off his very first tweet Thursday night to say "This is bulls**t" that Robinhood blocked the Reddit investor group in the GameStop-Wall Street beef.

Stewart joined Twitter -- @jon_actual -- specifically to share his take on the hottest story in the country ... saying the subReddit WallStreetBets isn't cheating at all. As Jon put it, "They're joining a party Wall Street insiders have been enjoying for years."

As you've heard, the trading app Robinhood blocked investors Thursday from buying stocks in failing companies like GameStop, AMC, Nokia and BlackBerry ... after investments from WallStreetBets helped them surge astronomically.

Robinhood was immediately blasted for the move, which was seen as protecting Wall Street's established hedge fund managers and screwing everyday folks. Friday morning, it reopened "limited buys" and of course ... GameStop stock is surging again.

Jon made it clear the Redditors are simply beating Wall Street at its own game. He said, "Don't shut them down ... maybe sue them for copyright infringement instead!!!"

You can tell fans have missed the ex "Daily Show" host -- he's already got over 700k followers -- and he promised, "to only use this app in a sporadic and ineffective manner."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to reach across the aisle to fix the Robinhood investors controversy -- as long as she doesn't have to work with Sen. Ted Cruz, who she says he tried to get her killed.

AOC blasted Cruz on Twitter after he agreed with one of her Thursday tweets questioning Robinhood's trading halt amid the GameStop stock surge ... she says he needs to sit this one out or resign because of his role in the failed coup.

In her scathing response, AOC says Cruz "almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago" during the insurrection ... and she's happy to work with "almost any other GOP that aren't trying to get me killed."

Remember ... AOC said she thought she was toast when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in search of lawmakers, detailing her harrowing experience in an eye-opening video.

Josie Canseco says she has completely blocked her ex-MLB slugger dad out of her life ... that is, until the former Bash Brother stops publicly feuding with her ex, Logan Paul.

Of course, 56-year-old Jose Canseco has been going after the 25-year-old Internet superstar for months on social media ... vowing to whoop the dude's ass over his breakup with Josie.

Now, Jose's model daughter is finally breaking her silence on her dad's "f***ing rampage" on Twitter ... calling the whole situation "selfishly embarrassing."

"When it comes back to character, integrity, I don't f*** with those selfish moves," Josie said on the "Between Good & Evil" podcast with Charlotte D'Alessio.

"It's just embarrassing. What are you doing, father? Dad, help. Explain to me, please. Why are you being this way?"

Josie says she told Jose exactly how she felt about the beef with Logan ... and it wasn't pretty.

"I went off, I ripped him a new a**hole," Josie said ... adding Jose clapped back by telling her she had no control over his social media antics.

Josie explained her frustration about the whole ordeal ... saying, "I don't f*** with that fake internet s***. I just do not care. I don't need press. I don't need publicity. I don't care to be famous. I don't care for attention."

As for her relationship with Paul, Josie admits the couple "went through some s***," but still have love for each other and remain very close.

In other words, Josie is accusing her dad of making the breakup seem more dramatic to get more hype around a potential fight with Logan.

"I'm just like, 'Fine, then I won't speak to you as long as you're doing this and bringing in my personal life, my relationship, to your social media for attention and for money and for clout.

Manchester United officials are sick after 2 of its players were racially abused following a loss Wednesday ... and now, the team is urging social media platforms to find and ban the "mindless idiots" who spewed the vile comments.

Following Man U's 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United ... Black players Anthony Martial and Axel Tuanzebe faced some heinous, racist remarks and emojis on their social media pages.

In fact, the outpouring of sewage got so overwhelming, Tuanzebe reportedly deleted his entire Twitter page.

A short time later, Man U officials dropped a scathing statement ... ripping people for the racist attacks -- and demanding it all stop ASAP.

"Everyone at Manchester United is disgusted by the racial abuse received by players via social media after last night’s game," the team said.

“We utterly condemn it and it is encouraging to see other fans condemn this on social media also."

Team officials continued, "Identifying these anonymous mindless idiots remains problematic. We urge social media platforms and regulatory authorities to strengthen measures to prevent this kind of behaviour."

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire, meanwhile, took to his social media page to defend his teammates as well, writing, "UNITED against racism. We will not tolerate it."

Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, is just like his pal, Donald Trump -- Twitter's permanently banned him for continuing to push the baseless claim Trump won the election.

Twitter says it decided to pull the plug on the "MyPillow Guy's" account "due to repeated violations of our Civic Integrity Policy" ... according to a spokesperson.

The Twitter policy was put in place in September to combat misinformation -- specifically about the election -- and has primarily been used since the January 6 Capitol riots as the basis for permanently suspending people.

It's unclear which of Lindell's tweets was the final straw, but he's continued to claim the election was rigged, even after President Biden's inauguration.

His allegations also led to his MyPillow products being pulled from shelves at Bed Bath & Beyond earlier this month. Shortly after the attack on the U.S Capitol, Lindell called it "very peaceful" and blamed the mayhem on "undercover Antifa" ... while continuing to voice support for Trump and insist he'd remain President for 4 more years.

As he left office, Trump vowed he'd be back in some form -- though clearly not on Twitter. His MyPillow BFF might have to follow in his footsteps.

Troubling allegations from the wife of Buffalo Bills star Jordan Poyer ... Rachel Bush says she was harassed by Chiefs fans at the AFC Championship Game in Kansas City on Sunday.

The model took to social media during the Bills' loss to the Chiefs to explain the situation ... saying while her hubby was playing against K.C. on the field at Arrowhead Stadium, fans spewed "disrespectful" vitriol her way in the stands.

"These drunk chiefs fans behind me knowing damn well I'm a wife saying s*** directly to me smh yuck," Bush wrote on Twitter.

"I've NEVER gotten into it with fans but holy cow ... disrespectful ... embarrassing ..."

Bush continued, "Most classless s*** I've ever seen ... even the fans around them are embarrassed."

Rachel -- who deleted the tweets shortly after making the claims -- went on to clarify, "not all chiefs fans are awful lol."

"Some were so nice!..just the ones behind me directly harassing us were [thumbs down]," Bush explained. "the rest of their own surrounding fan base was even embarrassed so that’s that lol"

It's unclear if Bush went to stadium security over the incident ... but she did later write on Twitter she was proud as hell of Jordan for the way he capped off an awesome season.

"One proud wifey tonight," she wrote. "Told me he was gonna give it his all and he sure did."

Kodak Black was in a giving mood when he promised to donate a million bucks toward charity if Donald Trump freed him from prison ... but it looks like he might be going back on his word.

The rapper's account tweeted back on November 27, "If The President Them Free Me, I'm Gonna Spend 1 million on Charity within The First Year I'm Out. That's on Everything."

As you know ... the Prez did commute Kodak's sentence last week, along with 142 other people he either pardoned or freed from prison, but now Kodak's tweet has been deleted.

We broke the story ... just because Trump commuted the rapper's sentence for a federal crime, does not mean he's protected against prosecution for state crimes, which is exactly what he's facing in South Carolina.

Kodak's accused of forcing himself on an 18-year-old woman in a hotel room after a Feb. 2016 concert -- allegedly raping her and biting her -- and prosecutors in the state have vowed to "aggressively" go after him in their pending case.

Maybe Kodak's waiting to see how that all pans out before he starts giving away the mil -- but, even if that's the case, why delete the tweet? Regardless, social media's already set a reminder for him ... with several users and bloggers questioning his intent.

DJ Spinderella just went off on Lifetime's Salt-N-Pepa biopic ... a project she's got nothing to do with, and she's pissed about the level of disrespect.

S-N-P's former DJ blew her top Friday, one day before the movie debuts, saying she was disappointed to learn "a decision was made to move forward with a Lifetime biopic that wrongfully excluded me from every aspect of development and production all the while using my image throughout, given that I played an integral role in the group's story and success."

Spinderella said she felt compelled to speak out because "too often, Black women who have made meaningful contributions in their industry are left out of historical narratives." She's especially mad because she says S-N-P was all about empowering women, so she "could not have dreamed that this same group would one day disempower me."

It's not all bad news ... Spinderella changed her tune near the end of her tweets to say she's in the final stages of writing her memoir, which she calls "a personal journey navigating through life, relationships, and the industry that raised me. 30+ years is a lot of content and I'm ready to share."

Amanda Gorman's poem at President Biden's Inauguration didn't just make her a household name, it put her at the top of Amazon's Best-Sellers list.

Hours after reading her poem, "The Hill We Climb" and becoming the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, Gorman couldn't contain her joy as she learned her books -- "The Hill We Climb" and "Change Sings" -- clocked in at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on Amazon sales.

What's really impressive about that is the books won't even be out until September 21 ... everyone's just pre-ordering now.

That's a massive accomplishment in such a short time especially when you consider this -- Barack Obama's "A Promised Land" is at No. 4, Kamala Harris' "Superheroes Are Everywhere" is at No. 8 and Michelle Obama's "Becoming" is at No. 12.

The 22-year-old West L.A. native and Harvard grad got a HUGE plug from 44 ... who tweeted, "On a day for the history books, @TheAmandaGorman delivered a poem that more than met the moment. Young people like her are proof that 'there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it; if only we're brave enough to be it.'"

It should be noted ... Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Lin-Manuel Miranda also shared her poem, which scored rave reviews and was trending just seconds after delivering it.

Sarah Fuller's used to performing under pressure, but doing it barefoot and in freezing temps was something new as she played a key role in President Biden's Inauguration celebration.

The Vanderbilt University football/soccer player was in Nashville for the "Celebrating America" special and introduced the nation's first female VP, Kamala Harris.

Vanderbilt's associate athletic director tweeted photos of Sarah at a freezing cold stadium recording her intro ... and she showed up in heels.

The AD says Sarah started out shifting side to side in the turf, probably to shake off the nerves -- but then she lost the heels, and once barefoot ... nailed it.

Sarah's intro for VP Harris referenced her own challenges on soccer and football fields. She said, "I faced a lot of challenges as a goalkeeper on the Vanderbilt University women’s soccer team and as a kicker on the football team. But seeing other women break barriers and being first at what they do inspired me and gave me the strength to succeed."

She continued, "and that’s why it is such an honor to introduce a true groundbreaker. And after 232 years of waiting, being able to say these words — our nation’s first woman vice president, vice president Kamala Harris."

Sarah, of course, became the first woman to play in a Power Five football conference when she filled in as an emergency kicker last fall ... and she was also the first woman ever to score in a Power Five game against Tennessee.

With 25,000 National Guard members set to protect D.C. for Joe Biden's inauguration, each member has been subject to a heavy vetting, which includes high-tech facial recognition.

Federal law enforcement sources tell us ... FBI vetting -- which is normal for high-security events -- begins by checking social media accounts, looking for connections to extremist groups.

Along with reviewing posts, comments and photos ... we're told the feds are using facial recognition software to track the activities of guardsmen and women, specifically searching for photos or videos tying them to radical activities.

Our sources say all 21,000+ National Guard members currently in D.C. -- who have come in from all 50 states -- have been scrutinized by facial recognition and other high-tech methods to determine if they had any involvement -- direct or indirect -- in the Capitol riots.

As for how that works ... all Guard members were required to take a photo when they showed up in D.C. for duty. We're told that photo is then cross-referenced with security camera footage along with online content to make sure there's no connection to extremist, far-right or fringe groups.

Along with the high-tech vetting tricks, our sources say the more common criminal background checks are also conducted ... in order to pick up on any red flags such as arrests or police report mentions.

When it's all said and done ... the FBI's goal is obviously to weed out anyone who might not have national security as their top priority while serving with the National Guard.