Dr. Deborah Birx is in the hall of fame -- the Bobblehead Hall of Fame -- and like Dr. Fauci before her ... her plastic likeness will raise funds for protective gear for medical workers.
Bobbleheads for Birx -- the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House task force -- went on pre-sale Wednesday for $25, and 5 bucks from each sale will be donated to the American Hospital Association's Protect the Heroes campaign ... according to National Bobblehead HOF and Museum co-founder Phil Sklar.
Sklar says ... "Bobbleheads are the ultimate honor, and we think Dr. Birx deserves it, given what she has done and continues to do for our country and the world in the battle against COVID-19."
Birx's figurine features her wearing one of her signatures scarves, which have garnered a fan following -- one Instagram account has more than 17,000 followers. The bobbleheads are expected to ship in July.
Birx bobbleheads come a week after the museum released Fauci bobbleheads for presale, which have already raised over $130k for the same good cause and quickly became the company's best-seller.
Deepak Chopra's urging everyone to be kind now -- even to your adversaries -- assuming we all, like Deepak, want the best possible post-pandemic outcome.
The mindfulness expert and holistic health guru specifically calls out people blasting the President, and other "Trumps of the world," because he believes you can't fight darkness with darkness ... and we all need to work together.
Sounds great, but if you're fighting darkness, who represents the light? Chopra suggests it COULD be Joe Biden, but adds he's going to need help from a variety of other progressive leaders.
Watch the video ... Deepak thinks he has a pretty solid game plan for Biden and says the likely Democratic presidential nominee is off to a good start with Barack Obama's endorsement.
As for whether he'd consider joining the Biden team as a spiritual adviser, Chopra tells us the formality of that situation's not really his thing ... but he's open to a chat.
Deepak also suggests his 21-day meditation plan for help getting through this difficult time. That goes for everyone, not just Biden.
Former President Barack Obama waited until the dust settled among all the Democratic presidential candidates, but he's fully throwing his support behind Joe Biden now.
Obama opened a video message with an uplifting sentiment about the fight against coronavirus and gave a thank you to those on the frontlines. He then transitioned to the political side ... saying, "That's why I'm so proud to endorse Joe Biden as President of the United States."
Obama then goes in on Trump and Republicans, saying, "One thing everybody has learned by now, the Republicans running the White House and the U.S. Senate are not interested in progress, they're interested in power."
At one point he mentions the failure of the Trump administration in containing the coronavirus, saying Republicans ignored the science of pandemics just as they ignored the science of climate change ... reminding everyone of the importance of honesty and informativeness from a President.
Biden was obviously thrilled with the endorsement, tweeting just a few minutes later, "Barack — This endorsement means the world to Jill and me. We’re going to build on the progress we made together, and there’s no one I’d rather have standing by my side."
Obama's backing of Biden comes just a day after Bernie Sanders joined Joe on a livestream to offer his endorsement, as well. Sanders dropped out of the race last week, seemingly leaving the nomination to Biden.
Joe told Bernie if he does indeed become the nominee, he's going to need Sanders' help "not just to win the campaign, but to govern."
Biden will certainly need more of Obama's help to defeat Trump, as well. The good news is ... 44 has been getting back out there more lately, mostly on social media to post helpful info about the coronavirus pandemic.
Ya gotta think he'll pivot to pushing his party to vote for Joe now though ... especially since it's been his goal to unite Democrats after all the primary chaos cooled down.
President Trump has yet to respond to Obama's endorsement. Start the countdown.
Chris Cuomo might be going a little stir-crazier than the average person ... based on his epic rant against CNN and President Trump, and him saying he's over the BS that comes with his job.
The CNN anchor -- who's battling COVID-19 -- was on his SiriusXM radio show Monday, and told his audience how he felt about his J-O-B ... and what he'd rather be doing instead. Long story short -- Chris wants to be able to cuss people out when they challenge him in public.
Chris gives an example of the latter -- describing a situation he and his family recently went through when they were out in his family's driveway, and a biker rolled up in the neighbor's driveway and apparently started chewing out Chris.
As Chris explains in this rant, he just wants to tell off people like that, but in way more colorful language. Of course, he acknowledges he can't because of his celebrity and his position at CNN -- which he implies constrains him.
He also says he's over the hyper-partisanship of his gig -- going on to say he doesn't believe anything Dems or Republicans tell him on the air. He says indulging that type of environment isn't worth his time -- and he doesn't even care about the money.
Oh, and yeah ... he called out Trump too.
BTW, at some point the same day ... Chris was on his regular CNN show discussing coronavirus with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and how it gets into your head and seriously screws with ya.
Unclear if he was trying to explain his radio words away, or if he was simply offering context to what he'd said -- but either way, something tells us Chris wasn't lying here.
Joe Exotic's former campaign manager wants to do forJoe Bidenwhat he did for the 'Tiger King' star -- raise tons of cash with some wild fundraising parties.
Joshua Dial, who ran Joe's failed campaign for governor of Oklahoma, and was heavily featured in the Netflix docuseries, tells TMZ ... Joe's campaign would regularly rake in $5,000 to $10,000 for tiger parties catering to rich folks.
TMZ.com
Joshua says they would load a baby tiger into a cage in the back of a van and haul it off to private parties for rich donors ... who gladly paid top dollar to party the night away and play with the tiger cub.
The tiger fundraiser parties were a huge hit, and Joshua says they organized several of them during Joe's 2018 campaign.
While Joe ran as a Libertarian, Joshua says the party has a lot in common with the Democrats ... and he wants a chance to work his magic for Biden!!!
9:28 AM PT -- In a message to his supporters, Bernie promised he'd work with Vice President Biden to help further his campaign ... Biden also posted a message about Bernie.
UPDATE
I know Bernie well. He’s a good man, a great leader, and one of the most powerful voices for change in our country. And it’s hard to sum up his contributions to our politics in one, single tweet. So I won’t try to. https://t.co/Z6OkCDWFNm
9:05 AM PT -- President Trump just chimed in on Twitter, of course, saying ... "Bernie Sanders is OUT! Thank you to Elizabeth Warren. If not for her, Bernie would have won almost every state on Super Tuesday!"
UPDATE
Trump adds ... "This ended just like the Democrats & the DNC wanted, same as the Crooked Hillary fiasco. The Bernie people should come to the Republican Party, TRADE!"
Sen. Bernie Sanders just ended his 2020 bid for President ... leaving Joe Bidena wide open path for the Democratic nomination.
Bernie made the inevitable decision Wednesday from his hometown of Burlington, Vermont after telling staffers he was suspending his campaign. The news, of course, makes Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Bernie tweeted, "Today I am suspending my campaign. But, while the campaign ends, the struggle for justice continues on."
The announcement comes about a month after getting walloped in primaries held in 6 states, but most importantly ... it came during a global pandemic that effectively shut down the U.S.
It also comes a day after Wisconsin controversially held its state elections. Sanders said about the decision ... "holding this election amid the coronavirus outbreak is dangerous, disregards the guidance of public health experts, and may very well prove deadly." The campaign refused to promote any "get out to vote" efforts for that reason.
Furthermore, the math just wasn't there for Bernie as he faced insurmountable odds. Bernie would reportedly have had to win more than 55% of delegates to score a delegate majority. That no longer seemed possible as Sanders badly struggled to make his case in Florida (Biden's shellacking him there, polls show) and Georgia (Sanders lost badly there 4 years ago to Hillary Clinton) ... two states holding primaries in the next couple of weeks.
The senator from Vermont -- whose platform resonated with young voters who were all-in on his push for universal healthcare and free college -- had hoped to pick up crucial wins Tuesday to give his campaign a much-needed boost. But, instead, it was Biden who distanced himself ... scoring victories in Missouri, Idaho, Mississippi, and perhaps most importantly, Michigan.
After a resounding win, Biden spoke to supporters and all but talked like he was the presumptive nominee saying, "I want to thank Bernie Sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion. We share a common goal, and together we'll defeat Donald Trump."
Once left for dead before the South Carolina primary, Biden's all but officially emerged as the Democratic nominee for president.
Donald Trump just did something jaw-dropping ... he shut down the leading infectious disease specialist in the United States of America -- stopped him from exposing a dangerous lie the President had just told.
Trump held a coronavirus briefing late Sunday and made a long pitch for people to use the drug hydroxychloroquine to battle the disease. He looked in the camera and said, "What have you got to lose?" There's actually an answer -- side effects include mild problems like nausea, but doctors say there's also a risk of stroke and major heart issues.
Fact is ... the drug is unproven. There have been very limited tests and results are a light-year from conclusive, and as you see, the side effects are significant.
A reporter then asked Dr. Fauci about the drug. He's spoken about it before, and there's no way he was on Team Trump, and the President knew it. You gotta watch the video.
Trump ended the briefing by insulting 2 reporters he didn't like, cutting off legit questions ... but watch and judge for yourself.
Forget politics for a minute ... Donald Trump is demanding, of all things, gratitude from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, despite the fact New York's health care system is about to break without these phantom tests, ventilators and PPE's the President constantly claims are rolling out.
Trump was true to form as he MC'd his daily coronavirus briefing, boasting about the federal response ... something in sharp, sharp contrast to the thousands of doctors and nurses who are now drafting their wills because there's nothing to adequately protect them from the disease.
Trump went in on Cuomo, saying he's given him everything imaginable ... maybe he didn't hear about the broken ventilators, the ridiculous competitive bidding among states for lifesaving equipment, the lack of masks, the lack of tests, and on and on.
Trump said Cuomo should be more like CA Gov Gavin Newsom. Here's the thing ... Newsom's a smart guy, and he, like every other leader at this point, knows Trump's enormous ego needs heavy stroking ... or else. Remember, he told Pence not to even call the governors of Washington State and Michigan because they supposedly lacked gratitude.
Here's what clearly escapes Trump. We want leaders who speak up, leaders who raise their voices when the doctors and nurses in their states are getting infected and dying. We need leaders who will stand up to a federal government that STILL will not recommend that EVERY state impose a stay-at-home order ... which is the most absurd thing in this whole messed up situation.
Trump likes polls, so check ours out today. People think Cuomo is a better leader than Trump by a margin that exceeds 2 to 1.
Andrew Yang says it's sad but true -- many Americans are aiming their hostilities over the coronavirus at Asians ... but he's trying his best to be empathetic.
The former presidential candidate -- who's Taiwanese American -- tells us he understands that times are tough for everyone right now, and with tough times comes feelings of anger ... and for some, it creates a need to find scapegoats.
Unfortunately, many Asian Americans like Yang are bearing the brunt of what he calls "racial hostility" ... due in part to people falsely equating the coronavirus' Chinese origins to all Asians somehow being responsible for it. It didn't help Trump started calling it the Chinese virus.
Yang points out that Asian Americans' lives have been upended just like everybody else's by the COVID-19 crisis ... but everyone else isn't having to deal with daily prejudice on the streets because of it, as well.
It's totally unfair, but Andrew's not one for sulking during the pandemic ... he's about solutions.
He's been urging his fellow Asian Americans to not cower in fear, but to "do everything in our power to accelerate the end of this crisis."
Yang added ... "We should show without a shadow of a doubt that we are Americans who will do our part for our country in this time of need."
Democrats are going to have to wait a little longer before they officially know who will be the party's presidential nominee ... cause the Democratic National Committee just postponed its presidential convention due to the coronavirus.
The DNC just announced it's pushing its presidential convention from July 13 to August 17 in Milwaukee. The move now means the DNC will hold its convention a week before the Republicans hold their convention in Charlotte.
The move also comes on the heels of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden publicly calling for the convention to be delayed as the nation continues to get a grip on the deadly coronavirus pandemic. BTW, there's still no clear timeline on when the nation, as a whole, will have flattened the curve on COVID-19 cases.
Joe Solmonese, the CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee, said, "In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention."
He went on to say, "During this critical time, when the scope and scale of the pandemic and its impact remain unknown, we will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of health care professionals and emergency responders."
The move comes as no surprise ... after major orgs. postponed and/or canceled major events ... including the NBA, NCAA tournament, NHL and MLB seasons.
Ronald Reagan's Presidential Library and Museum is losing hundreds of thousands during the pandemic lockdown -- so it wants the public to extend a helping hand ... filled with cash, preferably.
It's a pretty sad situation, actually -- a letter was recently sent to all museum members, asking for some help during the coronavirus-mandated shutdown. The Library's doors have been closed since March 13.
The letter, obtained by TMZ, says it bluntly -- the library is bleeding cash daily, about $150k per week.
Give it a read ... the library's executive director, John Heubusch, says without its usual flow of visitors and revenue from ticket sales and on-site vendors ... it just can't stay afloat for much longer.
The library, which notes it receives zero federal funding, says any size donation from members would be greatly appreciated right now.
They're serious about all donations being helpful -- the low-end suggested pledges are $10, $15 and $20.
Here's President Trump interrupting a coronavirus briefing to give Americans a very important message ... his hair is real, and it's spectacular!!!
Trump's daily virus press briefing had a hilarious moment Monday at the Rose Garden ... courtesy of Mother Nature, coronavirus testing kits and DT's famous mane.
Ya gotta see the video ... Trump's touting the new FDA-approved 5-minute coronavirus test when a gust of wind sends the test box flying off the podium, and his hair starts flowing in the breeze.
Trump notices the box blowing away, instantly makes a comment, then praises himself and his locks.
The good news ... it seems he's finally getting on roughly the same page as Dr. Fauci. Trump stressed the need for self-quarantining during the next 30 days. He said private companies are working on developing and manufacturing new tests, respirators and he said a company is working on sterilizing protective masks so they can be reused 20 times.
But, do you actually believe Trump when he says it's real?!?
4:05 PM PT -- Trump just spent 5 minutes talking about how great his ratings are for these daily briefings. He cited news reports -- several times -- that the briefings get higher ratings than "Monday Night Football" or "The Bachelor." He seems to think the ratings are a function of his popularity. Maybe it's just us, but we're thinking people are watching the briefings because they're scared for their lives and the lives of their families and friends.
President Trump is finally listening to the doctors and scientists around him -- doing a hard 180 on his Easter deadline to get back to normal and extending that to the end of the month.
DT made the announcement Sunday from the Rose Garden, telling reporters that the White House would, in fact, keep its social distancing guidelines nationwide until at least April 30, for now anyway. This, he says, will soften the blow of spreading coronavirus cases.
Even more sobering ... Trump says the peak of death rates for the country will actually hit in two weeks (right around Easter) and he doesn't want to declare victory prematurely.
A lot of critics believe Trump was never going to open the country back up on April 12, to begin with -- as he boldly suggested days ago. Some think he was simply bluffing and attempting to breathe optimism into the stock market and the economy. Both have been tanking lately.
Fox News
On a related subject, check out this video. Trump has made it clear ... he demands a loyalty oath, OR ELSE. Everyone who spoke at Sunday's news conference heaped praise on the Prez because he said out loud the other day people needed to show him appreciation. And, maybe worst of all, he told the Veep not to return the calls of the governors of Michigan and Washington State because they weren't grateful enough.
Look, we want the feds to save us, but Trump making this about himself and suggesting citizens from Michigan and Washington won't get the care they need because his ego got bruised ... well, that's just appalling. BTW, think about it ... Trump is telling Pence not even to return a call from the 2 governors ... what if people die as a result?
President Trump apparently thinks his daily press briefings on how his administration is handling the coronavirus pandemic is a reality show ... 'cause he's hyping his "ratings."
DT tweeted out the callous and insensitive message to his followers Sunday, boasting about sky-high numbers he and his task force are supposedly bringing in for news networks and other TV stations broadcasting his crucial health updates to the American people.
Because the “Ratings” of my News Conferences etc. are so high, “Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers” according to the @nytimes, the Lamestream Media is going CRAZY. “Trump is reaching too many people, we must stop him.” said one lunatic. See you at 5:00 P.M.!
Trump cites the NY Times as referring to his ratings as "Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers," and says the "Lamestream Media" is going nuts about the fact he's reaching so many people. He ends his tweet with a promise to return ... "See you at 5:00 PM!"
The Prez then went on to quote the NYT writer, seemingly for context and to imply that it wasn't him, per se, that was obsessed with ratings (even though he is). The quote from Michael M. Grynbaum reads, "President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr. Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of ‘The Bachelor.’ Numbers are continuing to rise..."
...alone attracted 6.2 million viewers for the president’s briefing — an astounding number for a 6 p.m. cable broadcast, more akin to the viewership for a popular prime-time sitcom...
He continues by citing the numbers across different networks, adding "...alone attracted 6.2 million viewers for the president’s briefing — an astounding number for a 6 p.m. cable broadcast, more akin to the viewership for a popular prime-time sitcom..."
He then quoted Grynbaum as saying a low percentage of Republicans trusted the news media for info on the virus. Implication being ... they trust 45 more.
The fact he's giving any conversation -- be it his or others' -- about ratings oxygen whatsoever is pretty asinine -- of course, people are tuning in ... their lives are on the line.
BTW ... Trump, who M.C.'s these briefings in the most self-congratulatory way possible, isn't the draw. The draw is Dr. Anthony Fauci, who isn't feeding us BS about how we're beating the virus ... because we're not.
Churches in New York are steadfast in keeping their doors closed amid the coronavirus pandemic to continue slowing the spread ... despite President Trump's plan for an Easter revival.
TMZ has spoken with 9 NYC church leaders, and all of them are standing firm in vowing to keep their places of worship empty on April 12 holy day.
Reverend Peggy Clarke of Community Church New York tells us ... she considers Trump's push for Americans to attend church together in a couple weeks "stunningly unethical," adding "Easter is a celebration of love and victory over death. The best symbol of that will be empty churches on Easter Sunday."
Rev. James Ross Smith of The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin says while he's incredibly sad about not opening his doors on Easter, he shares Rev. Peggy's sentiment. Smith says ... "It is our responsibility and duty to take care of each other, and one of the ways we do that is by listening to the health experts."
Another leader we spoke with, Pastor Patrick Thompson of New City Church, has been personally affected by the pandemic -- he tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday after experiencing symptoms of a fever about a week ago, and is in self-quarantine.
Thompson says ... "We are focusing on our new reality. Church isn't just about gathering, it's about sending people out. Even if we get a go-ahead from the federal government, we will not meet in person on Easter for safety purposes."
The pastor tells us he was distributing meals to homeless shelters and senior centers with members of his church just days before he began feeling symptoms of the coronavirus. Thing is ... they were wearing masks and gloves, so it highlights how dangerous it would be for church members to congregate too soon ... especially with NYC being the epicenter of the COVID-19 onslaught.
All of these churches -- along with Church of St. Francis Xavier, Grace Church, Trinity Church Wall Street, Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, Church of the Incarnation and Holy Family Catholic Church -- agree that Trump's push for a public Easter celebration isn't going to affect their decision to remain closed.
They may be preaching to the choir in NYC, but in other parts of the U.S. ... the President's goal to business as usual on Easter is gaining traction.
Seems the ice has thawed between Tom Brady and Donald Trump -- at least, according to POTUS -- who says he spoke with TB12 the other day and they're all gooooood!
Trump busted out the humblebrag during a coronavirus update press conference Thursday while trashing the "fake news" media.
"Somebody in the fake news said that one of the governors said 'Oh we need Tom Brady' [to lead the coronavirus relief effort]."
"They think Tom Brady should be leading the effort. That's only fake news and I like Tom Brady. Spoke to him the other day. He's a great guy."
Of course, Tom and Trump had a friendship that went back years -- Tom even put DT's "Make America Great Again" hat in his locker during his first campaign.
But, the two had a big falling out back in 2017 -- Tom didn't go to the White House with the team that year and Trump made no mention of TB12 during his congratulatory remarks.
As we previously reported, Trump felt betrayed by Brady for not standing up for him publicly. In fact, Gisele publicly stated she and Tom didn't support him anymore.
Tom has also disagreed with Trump's criticism of Colin Kaepernick -- saying the comments POTUS has made about NFL kneelers is "just divisive."
But now it seems they're on better terms.
The big question ... was it Trump who called Tom or Tom who called Trump?
