White House

Bernie Sanders is about to become a superhero in a new comic book chronicling his quest for the White House ... and he kicks his competitions' ass in the wrestling ring. 

TMZ has obtained a couple pages from Josh Blaylock and Devil's Due's new project, "Talk Bernie To Me!: The Bernie Sanders Special and AOC Surprise" which hits the market ahead of Independence Day. 

The graphic novel depicts Bernie as a larger-than-life candidate bruising his way to the Oval Office ... knocking out Beto O'Rourke, Jeb Bush and Elizabeth Warren on his journey to the highest office in the land. 

Check out the panel in the gallery ... the candidates are beating the hell out of each other in a battle royale that looks straight out of the WWE. Beto and Warren team up against Bernie, and they all go toppling over the top rope. 

Bernie manages to hang on to the rope and thrust himself back into the ring as the last man standing ... and he's declared the winner. 

The Vermont Senator isn't the lone focus of the graphic novel ... we also got our hands on another panel, and Joe Biden is getting super touchy-feely with Kamala Harris. 

You may remember a similar comic book with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a superhero ... and the Bernie version is from the same artist and publisher. It goes on sale July 3, with a portion of profits going to the ACLU and RaicesTexas.Org, a low-cost legal service for immigrants and refugees.

Big statement from Megan Rapinoe ... who just let her FEET do the talking after criticism from Donald Trump -- scoring a goal in the first 5 minutes of Team USA's big game against France. 

Remember, Trump told Rapinoe to focus on winning rather than criticizing the President -- after Rapinoe was quoted saying she would not go to the "f*cking White House" if Team USA wins the World Cup. 

Fast Forward to Friday's game against France ... where Rapinoe hit a brilliant goal during a free kick from outside the box (and deep in traffic) to take a 1-0 lead over France. 

Rapinoe has scored the last 3 goals for the U.S. in the World Cup tournament. She has 48 goals in international play. 

#Beast!

Story developing ...

Presidential candidate Julian Castro says he knows a bunch of U.S. pro athletes HATE going to The White House now that Donald Trump's in charge ... and says he plans on changing that, if he gets elected. 

Fresh off his widely-praised performance at the Democratic debates, Castro told he didn't sleep last night ... and was still replying to all the texts he got!

But, when we started talking sports -- in the wake of Trump's new beef with Team USA soccer star Megan Rapinoe -- Castro mustered up the energy to take another shot at POTUS. 

"I'm very confident that whomever the next President ... and I hope to be the next president ... you're gonna see a lot more sports teams eager to go to The White House unlike we've seen in the last couple of years," Castro said. 

Of course, Rapinoe recently said she's "not going to the f*cking White House" if Team USA wins the World Cup ... following the lead of the Golden State Warriors, who also boycotted Trump. 

Several members of the Boston Red Sox also declined The White House's invite after winning the World Series. 

Castro says he remembers back when he was with the Obama administration, NBA teams and players LOVED visiting The White House ... and he wants to bring that spirit back. 

Donald Trump is firing back U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe -- saying bluntly, she should "WIN first before she TALKS!"

As we previously reported, the team USA cocaptain went scorched Earth on Trump during an interview earlier this month ... saying, "I'm not going to the f*cking White House" if the U.S. wins the World Cup.

Trump obviously saw the comments ... and is responding:

"Women’s soccer player [Megan Rapinoe] just stated that she is 'not going to the F...ing White House if we win,'" Trump said.

"I am a big fan of the American Team, and Women’s Soccer, but Megan should WIN first before she TALKS! Finish the job! We haven’t yet invited Megan or the team, but I am now inviting the TEAM, win or lose."

"Megan should never disrespect our Country, the White House, or our Flag, especially since so much has been done for her & the team. Be proud of the Flag that you wear. The USA is doing GREAT!"

Trump also weighed in on the story TMZ Sports broke ... that several NBA teams and the NBA league office are moving away from the term "owner" because some players feel it's racially insensitive.

"Other than the NBA, which now refuses to call owners, owners (please explain that I just got Criminal Justice Reform passed, Black unemployment is at the lowest level in our Country’s history, and the poverty index is also best number EVER), leagues and teams love coming to the White House."

As for Rapinoe and Team USA -- they're scheduled to play Team France in the Round of 8 on Friday ... so they're getting pretty close.

Megan says she doesn't believe ANY of her teammates would accept an invitation to The White House if they win the whole thing.

Team USA soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe is making it crystal clear ... if the U.S. wins the World Cup, there's NO WAY IN HELL she's visiting Donald Trump at The White House.

"I'm not going to the f*cking White House," the 33-year-old co-captain told Eight By Eight Magazine ... "We're not going to be invited."

She's probably right about the second part ... Megan -- and other teammates have been very outspoken when it comes to their disapproval of President Trump and Rapinoe is confident Trump knows it.

"[Trump] tries to avoid inviting a team that might decline. Or, like he did when the Warriors turned him down, he’ll claim they hadn’t been invited in the first place"

When asked if she was speaking for the whole team, Rapinoe replied ... "I don’t know everyone’s voting patterns on our team, but I would hope no one voted for him."

Rapinoe has been VERY political in the past -- she was the first white pro athlete in America to take a knee during the National Anthem ... following Colin Kaepernick's lead.

She no longer takes a knee, but Megan doesn't put her hand over her heart or sing along with the lyrics anymore.

Trump was asked if Rapinoe's form of protest was appropriate on Monday -- and he told The Hill, "No. I don't think so."

Not that Rapinoe cares anyway ...

As for Team USA, they're on a tear right now ... they just beat Spain in the Round of 16 and are set to battle with France on Friday.

Add DeMar DeRozan to the list of athletes against visiting Donald Trump ... 'cause the NBA superstar says even if he was still on the Raptors, he wouldn't celebrate their title at the White House.

Raps coach Nick Nurse said last week the team is setting up a trip to be honored by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ... but said they're undecided on going to 1600 Penn.

However, over the weekend Raptors star Danny Green told Yahoo Sports he's a "hard no" on visiting Trump.

Despite playing for the Spurs now, DeRozan is on board if the team decides not to go ... telling TMZ Sports -- "Sh*t, I wouldn't go, either!"

DeRozan joins a growing group of athletes who have spoken out against visiting Trump -- the Golden State Warriors, LeBron James, Red Sox manager Alex Cora and players like Mookie Betts, David Price and Jackie Bradley Jr. have all been vocal about not going -- just to name a few.

Barack Obama is continuing his European vacation with a stop in Italy -- where he and George Clooney are taking suited-and-booted boat rides together ... comfortably, of course.

The former POTUS was spotted getting off a vessel with his actor pal Sunday near a dock on Lake Como in Cernobbio. It's a gorgeous area at the foot of the Alps -- right next to Switzerland's southern border -- and 44 and George were dressed for the occasion.

Both guys were wearing jackets and dress pants -- but neither appear to be rockin' ties, as their collars are open and unbuttoned. Gotta keep it business caj for those Italian lake views, right? No sign of Michelle, Amal or the kids here ... might've just been a bro sesh.

Barack and his fam were seen in the south of France earlier this week, where they grabbed dinner with friends ... and Barack showed off his many faces of delight at the table. A few days later, they kept the dream vacay going by hanging out with Bono and co.

George Lopez doesn't mind including President Trump's son, Barron, when criticizing DT's immigration policies ... and don't give him the "he's a kid" line, either.

The comic was leaving the Palace Hotel Saturday in NYC, where we got a chance to ask him about an IG post he'd just thrown up ... which basically calls out the Prez for being so harsh on immigrant children, while his own offspring have immigrant mothers themselves.

In the post ... Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric and 13-year-old Barron are referred to as an "anchor baby" -- meaning a kid born by a non-citizen mother in a country that offers birthright citizenship.

For the record, Ivana -- Trump's first wife, and mother of his older three children -- obtained citizenship in 1988, and her and DT's kids were all born before that. Melania obtained her citizenship in 2006 (the same year Barron was born) but it's unclear what month.

The bigger point here though ... was it appropriate to include Barron in the critique at all? Ya know ... since he is a minor?? George says absolutely ... especially in this administration.

Check it out ... he flips the question back on our photog, asking what's the difference between Barron and any number of the children being detained down by the border. The issue's timely -- Trump just announced he was gonna hold off mass ICE raids on families.

Barack Obama is living the good life after his time in office, and you can tell by just how many ways he expressed that with his face during dinner in the south of France.

The former U.S. Prez was dining Tuesday at high-end restaurant L'Oustau de Baumanière in Provence -- where he and his fam are vacationing -- with Michelle and some pals. Michelle was seated across the table, enjoying a glass of red wine.

In the pics, Barack's face reveals what feels like 15 different shades of joy as he and the table get in on a toast and take group photos in between bites. 44 even took up camera duty at one point, and he seems like quite the savvy smartphone photog.

We've come to expect this type of setting from Obama in the few years since he's left The White House, and after 8 years ... he deserves every minute of R&R he can get.

As for this dinner scene, imagine the Shia LaBeouf roller coaster of emotions meme and multiply it by ten. It's a feel-good journey getting through this one.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a simple message to anyone who thinks she crossed a line by calling southern border detention centers concentration camps -- Merriam-Webster's got my back.

AOC kicked up a firestorm Tuesday when she said, "The United States is running concentration camps on our southern border" ... while discussing the controversial detention centers for illegal immigrants. She'd heard the backlash all day -- from people like Liz Cheney -- by the time we spoke to AOC Tuesday night as she was leaving Capitol Hill.

The freshman Congresswoman was undeterred and fired back at Mrs. Cheney, in particular. She went on to defend her words ... saying, "The academic definition is targeting a community and putting them in detention camps without a trial and that's what the government is doing."

That definition isn't quelling the controversy. Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi fielded questions about it Wednesday morning, and cautioned AOC and all Democrats to beware of enemies trying to exploit their words.

Of course, the criticism of AOC's remark is that it was incredibly insensitive, and dismissive of the fact 6 million Jewish people were killed in concentration camps.

Kim Kardashian West's recent announcement at The White House was only the start of a massive undertaking ... of which almost 5,000 inmates will be able to reap the benefits from.

Sources with knowledge of Kim's partnership with rideshare giant Lyft tell us the company has committed services to get up to 5k soon-to-be released inmates to job interviews. We're told the biggest group of prisoners who have been granted release will get out of prison July 19.

Our sources say Kim -- in a partnership with #Cut50 -- has worked tirelessly on both federal and local levels to ensure inmates will be provided housing and employment opportunities. We're told there's also a long-term plan in place to make sure those released from prison will continue to get opportunities for years to come.

Kim has visited prisons across the country -- recently spending time on death row -- getting to know prisoners, their cases and possible injustices.

As we reported, Kim was at The White House Thursday with President Trump to announce her new partnership with Lyft.

Kardashian has been at the forefront of prison reform, lending her voice to help free those locked up for life for nonviolent crimes ... at one point, she helped to quietly free 17 inmates in 90 days.

President Trump doesn't like having his train of thought interrupted, which he made very clear Sunday by demanding a redo when somebody coughed in the middle of his interview.

45 was chatting it up with ABC's George Stephanopoulos in The White House, discussing everything from the Mueller report to his still-unreleased tax records -- and as he was explaining the latter ... someone off-camera let out a heavy cough that threw DT off.

He stopped mid-sentence and asked George if they could run his answer back, 'cause he didn't appreciate the interruption. Trump said quite bluntly, "Let's do that over, he's coughing in the middle of my answer," going on to add, "I don't like that, you know?"

George seemed to indicate that the culprit was Trump's Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, but it's unclear if it was in fact him. Whoever it was ... Trump definitely wasn't very nice in telling them to shut the hell up. In fact, he instructed them to leave the room.

"You just can't, you just can't cough," Trump told the cougher.

George and the ABC team reset and the Prez finished his tangent about his "fantastic financial statement." What's funny is that the gaffe made it to air during Sunday's broadcast.

Kim Kardashian definitely earned her title as Princess of Prison Reform ... using her celebrity status for good has yielded nothing but positive results, so says one of her freed prisoners.

The first prisoner released under the First Step Act -- Matthew Charles -- showered Kim with praise when we ran into him on Capitol Hill. As we reported, Kim not only helped secure his release ... she's covered the next 5 years of rent while he gets back on his feet.

Kim was front and center at The White House Thursday to unveil her latest prison reform initiative -- a rideshare partnership that allows inmates to travel to job interviews. The end game is to make them productive citizens rather than recidivists.

Kim's been a big help by writing checks so various lawyers and prison reform groups can do their thing ... and they have done their thing with success, recently freeing more than 17 inmates and counting. These are mostly inmates who are serving long terms for non-violent -- mostly drug -- offenses.

Sean Spicer has ZERO doubt his successor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, will land on her feet just fine after she leaves The White House ... and maybe one day end up on a ballot somewhere.

President Trump's first Press Secretary tells TMZ ... Sarah, who replaced Sean in July 2017, won't find the world out there as scary as many might think. In fact, Sean's adamant Sarah has a throng of supporters even in this political climate.

Check out the clip ... Sean, who wrote a book after leaving his post, says public service is in Sarah's DNA. But, Sarah -- just like Sean -- had a rough going as Trump's mouthpiece during her 2-year run. She'll leave at the end of the month and said she hopes she'll be remembered for her transparency and honesty.

That's ironic, because -- according to the Mueller Report -- she was forced under oath to admit she made up nonsense. The Special Counsel said Sarah straight-up lied when she said she heard from "countless members of the FBI" supporting Trump's removal of James Comey.

As for Sanders running for public office, Spicer says bank on it ... echoing President Trump, who encouraged her to run for Governor in Arkansas, her home state.

2:12 PM PT -- The press conference just ended and Kim made a major announcement … she’s involved in a rideshare partnership to give former inmates free rides to job interviews.

Kim says after spending time visiting prisons all over the country and talking with inmates on the inside and those who were recently released, one of their biggest hurdles is finding ways to get to job interviews and to work.

Meanwhile, the Prez announced a series of initiatives by the federal government and employers to help former inmates find work when they get back to their communities.

Kim Kardashian is back at the White House to talk prison reform, but this time she'll be making a speech alongside President Trump ... and TMZ is streaming it live.

Kim and the Prez are talking about the first prisoners released under the recently passed First Step Act ... and Trump is also expected to discuss hiring people with criminal records.

As you know, Kim and her legal team have been working diligently to free nonviolent prisoners who are spending life in prison for small drug crimes under Draconian sentences ... helping dozens of men and women gain their freedom.

Kim went to 1600 Penn. last year in the name of prison reform ... sitting down with POTUS in the Oval Office ... and now we're going to learn more about the fruits of their labor.

Their news conference is set to begin at 1 PM PT, and we'll have it all here.

President Trump's camp wants him to know how much he's loved on his most special day of the year ... so they're asking MAGA country to type in their names ASAP.

An email got sent Wednesday to subscribers of the Trump-Pence campaign, and it's begging for folks to be one of the first to sign a "HUGE" birthday card that his team will bestow on him come June 14 ... the Prez's 73rd birthday. They're looking for 2 million signatures.

The email reads, "Our goal is to get 2 MILLION signatures to let President Trump know how thankful we are for his incredible leadership in our shared mission to Make America Great Again." It goes on, "We sent President Trump a card last year, and he loved reading all of the encouraging messages from Patriotic Americans across the country."

The campaign doesn't specify if they're planning on printing a jumbo-sized birthday card with a scroll of autographs attached -- it'd have to be pretty damn big if that was the case -- or if they're just gonna DM him the collective well-wishes next Friday.

Something tells us this is just a digital thing though, and people's "signatures" probably amount to nothing more than spelling out your name on a keyboard and hitting send.