White House

White House Gift Shop dot com -- which is privately run, and not related to the actual White House -- is hawking some odd memorabilia ... a coronavirus commemorative coin no one asked for.

The COVID-19 coin features the names of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence ... and it depicts an empty presidential podium on one side, and a graphic of the novel coronavirus above the world on the other side.

The coin also shouts out the rest of the COVID-19 task force ... with smaller printed names for Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The collector's item is emblazoned with tons of slogans ... including "Together We FOUGHT The UNSEEN Enemy," "Everday HEROES Suited Up," and "Everyday CITIZENS Did Their Part."

The White House Gift Shop is already taking pre-orders for the coin ... and the price is slashed from $125 down to $100. The store claims proceeds will be donated to hospitals.

The COVID-19 coin is the 11th in the gift shop's "Historic Moments" collection, which also commemorates Trump's meetings with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

So, at least the coronavirus coin is in ... good company.

Vice President Mike Pence thinks the rules don't apply to him -- he's brazenly ignoring Mayo Clinic policy by not wearing a face covering, even though everyone else is.

Here's the deal ... the VP toured the renowned Minnesota hospital with a large group Tuesday and decided he'd pass on wearing a mask. The medical facility says, as policy, everyone needs to cover their face to guard against transmission of COVID-19.

Everyone around Pence adhered to the policy, so he stood out like a sore thumb. Keep in mind, this is the guy President Trump pegged to run the coronavirus task force. So, it's bad optics, potentially dangerous ... and just rude to his hosts.

The Mayo Clinic even tweeted that it told Pence about the policy mandating all patients, visitors and staff wear face coverings or masks BEFORE the tour of the grounds. That tweet has since been deleted.

While Pence and POTUS have refused to wear masks ... both sides of Congress are following the CDC's guidelines to wear masks when entering essential businesses and health care facilities.

We reached out to Pence's office for comment, but this seems like a move even TV's bumbling "Veep" wouldn't pull.

President Trump's now-infamous press conference in which he "sarcastically" suggested people start downing bleach and other disinfectants to kill the coronavirus has gone viral in the best way ... and one TikTok user has the performance down to a tee.

A user who goes by @whatchugotforme on the video app posted her own version of Trump's presser, where she plays the part of Trump and the befuddled Dr. Birx, using DT's voice-over audio from earlier this week ... and well-edited intercut shots going back and forth.

Check it out ... the lady does a great job mouthing Trump's lines almost perfectly, mimicking his mannerisms and pattern of speech with exaggerated facial expressions. It's freaking hilarious ... and the crazy thing, of course, is that it happened in real life on national TV.

In case you missed it, the leader of the free world stood at the podium during one of his coronavirus task force press briefings, and discussed new studies that supposedly show the COVID-19 virus can be relatively decimated by heat, light and disinfectants ... on hard surfaces. Trump took that new finding and ran with it ... recklessly theorizing it could possibly be applied INSIDE the human body, through injection (or other vague methods). Insane.

The next day he was asked to explain his comments ... and snapped at the reporter asking the question, telling her he was being sarcastic while responding to another member of the media. It's a baldfaced lie ... he was talking DIRECTLY to Dr. Birx at the time.

It was probably one of the dumbest things the Prez has said since he came into office -- and trust us, there's been a lot of runner-ups along the way. Now, it lives on in TikTok forever.

President Trump has a few ideas about how to treat COVID-19 patients -- based on some promising lab findings -- but the scientists around him ain't so sure.

The Prez played amateur M.D. during Thursday's coronavirus task force briefing ... after Bill Bryan -- Science Director for Dept. Homeland Security -- revealed lab testing shows UV rays from sunlight dramatically cuts the half-life of the virus. He added that bleach and isopropyl alcohol also kill the virus either instantly or within minutes.

That set off a lightbulb for Dr. Trump. He said -- out loud, mind you -- what if we could put UV rays and bleach inside a patient's body? His suggestion was maybe that would be an easy cure.

Watch the verbal dance Bryan had to do, explaining to reporters and the President it just doesn't work that way -- at least as far as he knows. He did this while desperately trying NOT to embarrass POTUS. Ya gotta feel for him.

To be clear ... the scientists are NOT saying it's okay to gather with friends under the UV rays of the sun -- that won't stop spread of the virus.

Nancy Pelosi looked more like she was on the set of "Contagion" the sequel than the U.S. Capitol building ... as she and her entourage all strolled in wearing masks.

The House Speaker arrived Thursday to the nation's capital as the House of Representatives begin debating several coronavirus-related issues and, hopefully, vote and approve the new stimulus package to help the reeling economy and specifically small businesses. The Senate already approved the nearly $500 billion relief bill.

You can see it's not just Nancy wearing a face covering. Her staff and security detail are also following the CDC's guidelines to wear masks while entering essential businesses. When the session began, you can also see almost every member -- both Democrats and Republicans -- wearing masks, though there were a few knuckleheads who opted going sans mask.

Rep. Ilhan Omar says the Trump Organization has a lot of nerve asking the federal government for rent relief ... when regular Americans can't get it themselves yet.

We spoke to the Minnesota congresswoman Wednesday about the Trump International Hotel in D.C. making a formal request to its owner's administration to be able to delay its monthly rent payments of $268k. It certainly seems to scream ... conflict of interest.

Eric Trump -- who's in charge of Trump's business affairs while he serves as president -- told the NYT he just wanted to be treated like everyone else ... seeing as how their revenue has taken a nose-dive during the coronavirus pandemic, similar to other hotels in the country.

That's definitely not cool, though, according to Rep. Omar -- who tells us President Trump and his cabinet should NOT be prioritizing hotels over everyday Americans when it comes to rent relief ... as there's a lot more of the latter than the former.

She says no one bats an eye when corporations and businesses ask for help, but when the people need assistance -- more than the federal stimulus checks -- everyone makes a fuss. It sounds like the congresswoman is teasing a potential new bill that would help out with this issue specifically -- namely, rent deferments.

Rep. Omar says there's another reason for the feds to step in quickly ... and it has to do with getting ahead of the curve. Not for the virus, but for a potential housing crisis.

A guy working on President Trump's newest task force to help reopen the nation just compared the fools taking to the streets to protest quarantine life ... to the late, great Rosa Parks.

GOP economist and strategist Stephen Moore -- whom Trump's administration has tapped to be part of the White House council to reopen the country -- made the absurd comment this weekend in a story published by WaPo, detailing the growing demonstrations nationwide.

What he said ... "I think there's a boiling point that has been reached and exceeded. I call these people the modern-day Rosa Parks -- they are protesting against injustice and a loss of liberties." Yep -- that came out of his mouth.

Of course, the guy's getting ripped online for the ridiculous comparison. In case we had to spell it out ... Rosa Parks fought to open up the United States to people of all colors. A lot of these protesters want the country opened up so they can go to the beach.

Not to say there aren't millions of people truly suffering now with the shutdown ... but still, comparing these protesters to Rosa Parks -- get real.

As wrong as Moore is, it's telling that his sentiment has connected with some folks -- including those demonstrators who are flocking out in droves. The President hasn't done us any favors, by tweeting to his followers to "LIBERATE" certain states, squarely contradicting his statement the day before when he said the governors will decide when their states open, and he contracted that statement the day before that by basically saying he was King and only HE could reopen the country.

There was even a huge protest on the West Coast -- people in Huntington Beach, CA came out en masse with signs like "Quarantine the Sick, NOT the Healthy" and others like it.

BTW, there are reports of even more protests just like these popping up this week -- in fact, it appears one might already be underway in Texas, where folks are out and about in a rage.

Naturally, none of them are practicing social distancing while they demonstrate ... and with that, they probably think they're sticking it to man -- "just like Rosa Parks" 😑

God, help us ...

Jacksonville, FL Beachgoers Don't seem at all concerned with the number of coronavirus deaths and cases on the rise ... because they hit the sand Friday and packed in like sardines.

It's a crazy sight, as the sun worshipers took their chances by getting in close contact with other beachgoers.

Jacksonville's mayor, Lenny Curry, celebrated the trek to the beach saying, "This can be the beginning of the pathway back to normal life."

President Trump is clearly encouraging people to break quarantine, with Tweets like, "LIBERATE MICHIGAN," "LIBERATE VIRGINIA," and "LIBERATE MINNESOTA."

He's clearly dog-whistling, because he threw in this ... "And save your great 2nd Amendment."

Not hard to read between the lines ... he's telling his stalwarts to ignore the advice of doctors, scientists, their governor and mayor, because they're Americans dammit.

Forget social distancing or staying at home to save lives -- an angry group of Michiganders are over it and they're loudly protesting, hoping to get their Governor to lift the safer-at-home order.

The scene from Lansing is pretty insane ... hundreds of protesters lining the streets around the Capitol -- very few wearing masks -- to pull off what they call "Operation Gridlock." Drivers in about 400 vehicles leaned on horns while protesters shouted with megaphones.

Michigan State Police troopers are on hand, but say they are protecting First Amendment rights and will only take enforcement action for traffic laws, vandalism or threats to human life. In other words, NO tickets for the obvious social distancing violations.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently expanded the state's stay-at-home order, requiring stores to block off non-essential aisles and banning people from traveling between vacation homes. Motorized boating is also now prohibited.

Protestors say the Governor should let more people back into the workforce and lift restrictions on public outings, even though health officials back the order and warn against lifting restrictions too soon.

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.