White House

Rep. Maxine Waters fears what's going on in Portland could be a sign of trouble to come in November ... IF President Trump loses the election, and refuses to give up power.

The Congresswoman, who was on Capitol Hill, was super concerned over AG William Barr's testimony, in which he supported the aggressive federal response to the protests.

Even more ominous than Barr ... Trump refusing to say he'd accept the results of the election, win or lose, and even more ominous ... whether he'd hand over the reigns of power.

Rep. Waters makes it clear ... she's worried her fears could become a reality, especially since neither Trump nor Barr will squarely say the President will accept the election results.

Waters says there's evidence Trump won't go willingly if he loses ... as she puts it, he's a wanna-be dictator whose methods follow a long line of dictators. And, she thinks the federal presence in Portland may be a dry run for things to come in November.

Kanye West's bid to appear in the NJ ballot for president is full steam ahead ... TMZ's learned he's filed the necessary paperwork to do just that.

We've learned Ye submitted petitions Monday with 1,327 signatures in his quest for a presidential run. In the Garden State, the requirement for Independent candidates to file for president is 800 signatures. Ye clearly surpassed that ... but from now until July 31 at 5 PM, there's an objection period where someone can challenge the validity of individual signatures submitted. If there are no objections, Kanye gets a place on the ballot.

This, of course, all sounds too familiar. TMZ broke the story ... he's facing a huge hurdle in his home state of Illinois after several objections over the validity of signatures gathered to get on that state's ballot. As we reported ... one of the objectors says he reviewed roughly 3,200 signatures but claims to have found less than 1,000 valid signatures in Kanye's docs. A hearing is set for next week on that issue.

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

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.

Kanye West's bid to get on the Illinois ballot for President has just hit a bump in the road -- as in, serious objections about the petition signatures he's submitted.

TMZ's learned there have been 3 objections filed with the Illinois Board of Elections ... which means it will now evaluate the validity of the signatures on his petition, and then hold a special meeting to decide whether Kanye's name gets printed on the state's ballots.

Here's how it works ... officials tell us anyone can request to take a closer look at Kanye's 412 petition papers he submitted last week and every single signature can be objected to for various reasons -- including possible duplicates and/or use of fake names.

As for the objectors themselves ... we spoke to one, Sean Tenner, who says after reviewing roughly 3,200 signatures, he claims to have found less than 1,000 valid signatures in Kanye's docs. Sean believes the rest are invalid, but wouldn't specifically say why.

BTW, Kanye needs 2,500 valid signatures to remain on the state's presidential ballot.

Sean says he was motivated to investigate the petition signatures because he was fuming after Kanye's controversial Harriet Tubman comments.

We're told the board will now hold the special board meeting next week, and assign an officer to review evidence and decide Ye's fate on his home state's ballot.

Kanye West is scratching and clawing to keep himself viable for the presidential race, 'cause he just made another last-ditch effort to get on another ballot ... this time in Missouri.

The rep for the Secretary of State there says Ye's camp submitted signatures before the 5 PM deadline Monday -- just in time to be considered for an appearance on the November 3 election. Whether he has enough legit signatures to make the cut though ... still TBD.

Missouri election officials still gotta tally 'em up -- he needs 10,000 signatures from registered voters in the state.

Of course, he just squeaked onto the ballot in his home state of Illinois last week -- something that cost him a pretty penny to do ... upwards of $30k, as we first reported.

Remember, he missed the deadline in South Carolina about a week or so ago -- this after his off-the-rails campaign rally down there, which left him in tears ... and eventually on a Twitter tirade aimed at his family. Ye didn't bother submitting any signatures that time around.

Kanye West's last-ditch effort to make the presidential ballot in his home state worked ... but it cost him a nice chunk of change.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kanye's campaign team hired a third-party vendor called Let The Voters Decide to collect the 2,500 signatures to make the ballot in Illinois.

Thing is ... Kanye did it with only a little more than a day to spare ... before the 5 PM Monday deadline.

We're told the group got to work right away, deploying 45 people who hit the streets in various parts of the state and racked up enough signatures ... all in 24 hours.

Our sources say they were paid handsomely for their efforts ... Kanye dished out $10-12 per signature, and they produced 3,178 signatures. Do the math -- well over $30k.

One of the signature collectors, Kenny Mister, tells us he got hit up Sunday to petition for Kanye. He says he was in Detroit, but dropped everything to get to Springfield, IL by Monday, worked for 3 hours ... and got 56 signatures at 10 bucks a pop.

Kenny says he went door to door, asking folks if they'd support Kanye getting on the ballot, but adding it didn't mean they had to vote for him.

BTW, if you're wondering if $10 per signature is a lot ... it is. Rickey Hendon -- a former Illinois State Senator who now works as a campaign consultant -- tells us the standard rate is closer to $1-3 per signature.

Rickey also says Kanye's team reached out to him a couple days before Let the Voters Decide ... but he declined.

It all might be a moot point ... Kanye missed the deadline to file in other states, and he seems like he's focused on other matters at the moment anyway ... many other matters.

Kanye West has the proverbial snowball's chance in hell to win the 2020 Presidential election  -- but still, it never hurts to be prepared ... which is why Madame Tussauds already has a presidential bust of the guy.

The famous wax museum has a tradition of making clay head sculptures of our nation's leaders -- they made one for Donald Trump 4 years ago before he won the presidency -- and now they made one for Mr. West.

Hey, you never know -- better to have it on deck and ready to go if the ultimate upset goes down. We've seen it happen before.

Now, bear in mind the sculptures are not the full, colored-in wax statues you might see at any one of its museums around the world. These are different -- we're told they actually place the presidential heads in an Oval Office exhibit.

Here's another thing -- our sources say MT and co. have only done a head-to-head presidential "face-off," if you will, one other time ... and that was for Hillary Clinton and DT. Now, they're running it back -- but oddly enough, they opted for Ye before sculpting Joe Biden.

It's true ... we're told Madame Tussauds' team has not yet completed the Biden bust, but they say should he win, they'll knock it out.

Just goes to show where people's heads are at these days 🤷🏽‍♂️

Kanye West's first presidential rally didn't help him get on the ballot in another important state ... he just missed the cut in South Carolina.

Kanye's campaign missed Monday's deadline to get on the November ballot in SC ... Chris Whitmore, Director of Public Information for the South Carolina State Election Commission tells TMZ.

Kanye is running with the independent Birthday Party, which gave him a hard 12 PM ET deadline to get the 10,000 signatures needed as a petition candidate, but we're told the State Election Commission didn't hear a peep from Ye or his campaign -- no traditional signatures and no digital signatures.

As we reported ... Kanye tried to grab enough signatures over the weekend, even asking folks to sign up over social media, and held a wild campaign rally that alarmed, upset and concerned his friends and the Kardashians.

None of that moved the needle, apparently.

Kanye's hopes of being on the state's ballot are pretty much dashed ... there is no write-in option for voters in South Carolina and the only way Yeezy could be on the November ballot now is as a legit party candidate (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, etc.) and that ain't happening.

For those keeping score at home ... Kanye's on the ballot in Oklahoma, but he's now whiffed in SC, Florida or Michigan.

Al Sharpton thinks President Trump joking about renaming a military base after him is more of the same old song the man has played time and again ... think Song of the South.

We got the Reverend Sunday in NYC ... not too long after Trump's interview with FOX News' Chris Wallace aired earlier in the morning. The Prez was asked about threatening to veto a military spending bill that has bipartisan support ... all because it also seeks to rename national military bases named after Confederate generals, like Fort Bragg.

DT challenged Chris to come up with a new name .. and then he name-dropped Al out of nowhere.

Welp, the good Reverend has some thoughts on that ... telling us it's hard to make sense of what Trump's getting at, because he says the dude's so nonsensical. Still, in Al's eyes ... he finds it crazy that Trump's so stuck on defending the Confederacy as a heroic cause.

It obviously wasn't, as he points out -- the rebels were traitors, and definitely on the wrong (and losing) side of history.

Kanye West's first presidential rally just wrapped up and he stirred up lots of controversy by discussing Harriet Tubman, abortion and the possibility of divorcing Kim Kardashian West.

Ye held his first event as a candidate Sunday at the Exquis Event Center in North Charleston, SC -- and right off the bat ... it was unorganized and rowdy. He didn't even have a podium or a microphone to address the crowd, which was right up in his face.

At any rate, Kanye rambled through a number of topics -- oftentimes incoherently -- but one thing he said that came through crystal clear ... him suggesting that Harriet did NOT free slaves in her day, but just siphoned them off to other oppressive white folks.

That line drew jeers and groans from the crowd almost instantly -- we gotta say, it seriously reminded us of his "slavery was a choice" moment at TMZ a few years ago.

There's more. At one point, Ye launched into a rant about abortion, a woman's choice, etc. -- and he got incredibly emotional recounting a story about his then-girlfriend (now wife) Kim once telling him she was pregnant and how they considered not having the baby.

Kanye broke down sobbing while telling the story, saying that it hurt him because he confessed he did not want to have it ... which reminded him of his own father, who apparently didn't want him either when his own mother, Donda West, was pregnant.

It was a very personal thing to share, and Ye seemed to acknowledge as much when he followed up by saying it's possible Kim might wanna divorce him after this. He continued that train of thought, saying if she ever did ... he'd be thankful for her delivering North.

Ye went on to touch on a number of other subjects, including the fact that there weren't enough Black people in true positions of power -- including at Adidas, where he says he wants to sit on the board of directors, or else. Of course, he also talked about God and Jesus.

During the chaotic rally, Ye tried fielding questions from onlookers -- all of whom had to wear masks, but hardly any of whom were socially distanced -- but it mostly turned into a shouting match between himself and the rambunctious crowd. It was all hard to follow.

Probably not the greatest start for the Birthday Party campaign, but Kanye doesn't seem to mind ... he said he doesn't care if he wins the presidency or not. Why run then, right?

Anyway, up until today, Kanye seemed pretty serious about his presidential bid. TMZ broke the story ... Ye has filed docs with the Federal Election Commission, and he's also filed docs to get on the ballot in Oklahoma.

He tweeted Saturday, "Hi guys please sign up to put me on the ballot in South Carolina at any of these locations," and he went on to list various places, in addition to his 2020 website.

The first poll shows Kanye is pulling 2% of the vote. What's unclear ... between Biden and Trump, who gets hurt more and who benefits the most? What's also unclear ... if Ye's gonna go the distance after the train wreck that just occurred.

Kanye West's presidential campaign just keeps rolling along, and he's now setting his sights on South Carolina ... where he's trying to grab enough signatures to get on the November ballot.

Kanye posted a tweet, urging S.C. voters to support him with a signature. His petition reads, "I am signing to put Kanye West on the ballot in South Carolina ... Click here to add your signature -- YE '20."  He needs around 10,000 signatures to qualify as the official Birthday Party candidate.

TMZ broke the stories of Kanye's efforts, including filing the necessary docs with the Federal Elections Commission and docs to get on the Oklahoma ballot.

Kanye West is full steam ahead in his 2020 Presidential run ... he just filed a second set of documents Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.

Ye's latest filing is called a Statement of Candidacy, which shows he's raised or spent more than $5,000 in campaign-related expenses. That elevates him to candidacy status under the federal campaign law.

Kanye, of course, lists his party as BDY -- Birthday Party is now abbreviated. He designates the name of his political committee, "Kanye 2020."

He also lists his residence as Cody, Wyoming, where he and Kim just bought a massive property.

This is the second -- and more important set of docs -- that Kanye has filed with the FEC. He filed his first set Wednesday -- a Statement of Organization for the campaign, declaring the Kanye 2020 committee will serve as the Principal Campaign Committee.

It's interesting ... some media outlets are saying Kanye is not running, but we've been told otherwise, and the documents underscore that. The latest was filed Thursday morning at 12:34 AM ET.

Kanye also filed legal docs qualifying him to get on the ballot in Oklahoma, however, he missed the Wednesday deadline in the battleground state of Florida.

Kanye West has taken his first official step on his road to The White House -- he's filed with the Federal Election Commission ... seeking the office of President.

Kanye filed the first form required by the FEC Wednesday -- Form 1, Statement of Organization -- declaring that the Kanye 2020 committee will serve as the "Principal Campaign Committee" with West as its candidate. The party is listed as BDY ... which Ye's said stands for the Birthday Party.

However, he's yet to file the more important Form 2 -- Statement of Candidacy -- which shows he's raised or spent more than $5,000 in campaign activity and triggers candidacy status under federal campaign finance law.

Regardless, the move comes on the heels of reports that Kanye was dropping out just 10 days after making his surprise July 4 Twitter announcement ... and after news broke that he was polling at just 2 percent.

Looks like he's trying to keep hope alive ... at least for now.

Kanye, who's had Elon Musk's support from the jump, has managed to stir up plenty of publicity -- and controversy -- in his less than 2 weeks on the campaign trail so far.

As we reported ... he turned on his former buddy and incumbent, Donald Trump, compared Planned Parenthood to a Satanic baby-killing cult and got blasted by the org, and picked a running mate with some odd takes on mental health.

Ye's still facing an uphill battle to even get on the ballot in several states, and as we already mentioned ... his first poll numbers really sucked.

Our sources have also told us Kanye's in the throes of a very serious bipolar episode through all of this, which has worried his family and loved ones.

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.