White House

"I've seen racism up close. I know what it is. And, it isn't Donald Trump."

Football legend Herschel Walker delivered a passionate speech defending Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention Monday ... insisting his longtime buddy is an ally for Black people.

"It hurt my soul to hear the terrible names that people called Donald," Walker said. "The worst one is racist."

Walker says he's known Trump for nearly four decades ... and has never once experienced a racist act from him.

"I take it as a personal insult that people would think I've had a 37-year friendship with a racist," the 58-year-old former running back said. "People who think that don't know what they're talking about."

Walker says Trump has always been a fair and loving person toward him ... giving him business advice and setting an example for how to treat everyone the same.

Walker added he's seen tremendous family values from Donald up close as well ... explaining how Trump joined a family vacation to Disney World at the last minute in a suit and tie.

"There he was, in a business suit, on It's A Small World ride," Walker said with a laugh. "That was something to see."

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is back in town to help save the Postal Service from being gutted -- and she's got a word of advice for those who wanna help, including Cher.

We got AOC Saturday on Capitol Hill, where she and other House Dems convened a rare session to pass a $25B emergency relief bill to keep the tattered USPS intact through November ... this after alleged attempts at dismantling under the Trump administration.

She tells us what her party wants to see with the money they hope to get passed -- and it goes beyond just stopping any more drastic changes than what has reportedly taken place ... AKA, removing mailboxes and sorting machines, cutting overtime for employees, etc.

AOC says this bill seeks to bring all of those things BACK to handle the influx of mail-in ballots and other Postal Service products people usually expect to be up and running ... especially ahead of a crucial presidential election. Time will tell if it passes the Senate.

Now, as for what people can do on the ground to help the cause -- like Cher recently expressed interest in doing -- Rep. Ocasio-Cortez keeps it real ... but practical too.

Kanye West may have missed another important deadline in his presidential run, and this one certainly suggests his campaign is on the rocks.

Kanye, the presidential candidate, is required by FEC rules to file a financial report if he raises or spends $100k on his campaign.

The filing deadline was August 20, but according to an FEC official ... the agency hasn't received it.

So this means one of 2 things, and neither is good for Kanye -- either he missed the filing deadline or he didn't raise $100k ... and how do you run for Prez if you can't raise $100k?

As we reported, Kanye really ramped up his campaign in late July after his off-the-rails rally in South Carolina, hiring a third-party group called Let the Voters Decide to help get him on the ballot in several states.  He's also hired a team of political advisors.

Ye spent at least $30k to get on the ballot in Illinois ... but it didn't pay off.

Kamala Harris has made history ... she is the first Black female ever nominated on a major Presidential ticket, and her acceptance speech was a call to action to save America.

Harris' speech capped off a DNC night that honored women. She did not mince words, saying "Donald Trump's leadership has cost lives and livelihoods."

She spent a fair amount of time talking about her family ... especially her late mother, whom she calls the most important person in her life. Her mother raised Harris and her siblings, and wished she could have watched her accept the nomination.

Harris spent time talking about the civil rights struggle in this country, and playing off the country's struggles over the COVID pandemic, she said, "There is no vaccine for racism. We've gotta do the work."

And, on the subject of foreign relations, the shot at Trump was obvious when she said, "We [will] stand with our allies and stand up to our adversaries."

Harris' speech followed former President Obama, who made what may have been his most powerful speech ever. Obama used numerous historical references to underscore what he says are the many failings of a Trump who did not grow into the office.

Kamala Harris is the subject of a heinous, misogynistic attack ... this one on a t-shirt that had been hawked on Amazon until moments ago.

The shirts with the phrase "Joe and the Hoe" were being sold on the mega online merchandiser's site this week before Twitter users took notice and demanded the items be removed immediately. One of the shirts even had a vile subtitle attached ... "Sniff & Blow."

Amazon tells us it removed the shirts from circulation Wednesday, and said all retailers were subject to following their sellers' guidelines ... which appear to bar this sort of blatant smear.

Still, the fact this type of product can make its way onto Amazon at all before having to be called out seems problematic to say the least. We've seen this type of stuff make it onto the site before -- outright outlandish products and/or descriptions seem to slip through the cracks pretty often.

Sad fact is ... Senator Harris' character and gender have been targeted from the moment Joe Biden announced her as his Vice President. Scores of memes vilifying her immediately went into the ether -- some of that to be expected, it's politics, after all.

But, stooping to referring to a female candidate as a "hoe," clearly crosses the line from simple political discourse.

LeBron James says he will officially join Team Biden -- and will actively campaign for the V.P. and Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump in the presidential election.

"We are at a time where we need change," LeBron said on VICE TV's "Cari & Jemele: Stick To Sports."

"In order for change, it's all about leadership -- and leadership starts at the top."

Remember, LeBron campaigned hard for Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign -- even joining her on stage for a rally in Ohio.

Now, LeBron says he'll get his political machine up and cranking again to help Biden/Harris get into the White House this time around.

LeBron's issues with Donald Trump are well documented -- they've traded shots for years.

Bron has called Trump everything from a bum to a clown. Trump insulted Bron's intelligence.

So, when Jemele Hill -- who's also gone after Trump -- asked about Bron's intentions to help out Biden, James said it was an obvious decision.

"I think what's known don't need to be said," Bron explained on the show (premieres Wednesday at 10 PM ET).

Back in 2016, Bron had a ton of support from NBA players -- including J.R. Smith who joined him on stage during the Clinton rally.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's love of Shark Week could not be contained -- even as she was about to speak to the DNC -- and now she's got a new catchphrase with some bite ... with the Discovery Channel's stamp of approval!

The Guv was about to deliver her live speech Monday night in support of Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for president when she decided to let her Shark Week flag fly, saying ... "It's not just Shark Week, it's Shark week *mouths expletive for 'mother f*****s'*"

Her joke drew big laughs from the room as she acknowledged she knew her mic was on. The way it seems to us ... she was warming up the crowd -- comprised mostly of auto workers -- and it worked.

The moment didn't air on live TV ... but thanks to the magic of live streaming, it's gone viral, already garnering merchandise production in her home state.

Not only has the Governor's remark resonated with Shark Week fans and her constituents, but our sources at Discovery tell us the channel is thrilled at Gretchen's hot mic moment.

Of course, Shark Week 2020 just ended ... but it's never too early to hype up 2021.

President Trump's new Postmaster General is doing a major about-face ... suspending all major changes to the USPS until after the November election.

Louis DeJoy announced Tuesday that in order to avoid even the appearance of voter suppression, he's immediately suspending the curtailing of retail hours at the post office, vowing to keep mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes in place ... and overtime for postal workers will continue to be approved as needed.

He also says no mail processing facilities will be closed.

Good for the country ... but there's a caveat. DeJoy said these measures will go into effect after the election, so ultimately it sounds like it'll be bad news for USPS employees ... it's just been delayed.

No word on whether the Post Office will bring back the blue collection boxes it has already removed across the country. Some blue collection boxes have also reportedly been locked in some cities, including Los Angeles.

DeJoy -- a longtime Trump ally with zero experience in the Post Office -- made the move just days before he's set to testify in front of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. That hearing, and a Congressional hearing next week, are being held following accusations DeJoy's intentionally hindering the USPS's ability to handle the expected mass volume of mail-in voting this year.

President Trump has revealed whom he's going to pardon this week -- and no, it's not Joe Exotic ... strangely, it's Susan B. Anthony.

DT made the announcement Tuesday after hyping up the fact the day prior he was going to pardon someone major, saying Anthony shouldn't have been found guilty for casting a vote in the presidential election of 1872 ... which was illegal for women to do back then.

It's a bizarre choice and comes off as a desperate appeal to women before the November election -- especially on the 100-year anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment. We get it ... but fact is, there's plenty of still-living people that could've used the pardon now.

Still, since we're talking SBA -- here's the story on her conviction ... which was issued under sketchy circumstances and probably didn't need official rectifying all these years later.

Susan broke the voting law in protest that year when Ulysses S. Grant was facing off against Horace Greeley. Like we said, only men were allowed to cast ballots in those times -- but the women's suffrage movement was in full swing ... and Susan was leading the charge. She and about a dozen other women were given access to the booths.

She was one of many arrested and tried for voting -- but the judge presiding over her case actually directed the jury to hand down a guilty verdict, which they did. All she had to do was pay a $100 fine, but she resisted ... standing on principle she'd done nothing wrong.

The Democratic National Convention deciding to go fully virtual this year is saving everyone millions of dollars ... TMZ has learned.

According to federal docs we obtained, the total cost of protecting everyone involved in the week-long DNC events will run around $1.5 million -- which also includes putting bodies on the ground at Joe's house in Wilmington, DE ... where he'll deliver his acceptance speech.

While a million-bucks plus is nothing to sneeze at -- it's a helluva lot cheaper than the original plan, which would've seen the Service spending way more in security coverage had the convention been held in person in Milwaukee -- something they scrapped very recently.

If there were conventions in convention halls, the Secret Service was anticipating security expenses at almost $4 mil for Joe and co., and practically double that for Trump.

Considering this order of $1.5 mil appears to encompass everyone participating in the DNC -- it's likely the government spent little to no extra money accommodating Biden's change of location. Presumably, he's already had people stationed -- and getting a few extra agents on his detail this week probably isn't breaking the bank.

All things considered -- going digital is saving the Dems (plus, you and us) millions that can and hopefully will be better spent elsewhere ... say, for coronavirus relief funds, for example.

Michelle Obama was the clear star of the first night of the Democratic National Convention, and even though she only mentioned Donald Trump by name once ... she went for the jugular -- and she even took a shot at Kanye.

The former First Lady told people they should give up on Trump understanding and doing his job, because she says he just isn't up to it. As she said, "It is what it is."

MO hit all the big issues ... coronavirus, race, racism, justice, international relations, but her strongest words were about the office of the President and the President's character. She noted she's one of the few people on earth who have seen the challenges in the Oval Office, and Trump just doesn't have it.

She also seemed to take a shot at Kanye West. As she implored people to get out and vote, she cautioned for voters not to "play games with candidates who have no chance of winning."

Another interesting moment ... she said flatly -- she hates politics.

Michelle Obama's ready to throw her full support behind Joe Biden in front of millions of screens ... calling him a decent man while taking thinly veiled shots at President Trump.

The DNC just released a portion of the former First Lady's speech for Monday night's Democratic National Convention. She pretaped it, because remember ... it's all virtual this year ... and in the clip, she praises Biden as a man of faith who will tell the truth and trust science.

She never says Trump's name, but the references are clear -- the Prez is frequently accused of not believing scientists, like Dr. Anthony Fauci or Dr. Deborah Birx ... accused of lying, and absurdly said Joe Biden wanted to "hurt God."

Michelle's used to taking center stage at the DNC ... she was there just 4 years ago, and delivered a rousing speech stumping for Hillary Clinton.

You'll recall Michelle made these words famous at the 2016 convention -- "When they go low, we go high." Remains to be seen if she'll drop another anthem in this year's speech.

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, is expected to address the DNC tonight -- and a former senior administration official under Trump endorsed Biden today, saying he'd seen Trump do "terrifying" things as Chief Executive.

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, former Presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Sen. Bernie Sanders are all expected to take the stage too.

BTW ... Eva Longoria is hosting tonight's online DNC festivities.

Kanye West gave a belated shout-out to Kamala Harris, but he's not gonna vote for her.

Ye just tweeted, "I know my mom and Kamala Harris would have been friends ... congratulations on being the democratic Vice President nominee ... all love and respect from the future president.  It's an honor to run against you."

So much to say. First, it's cool that Kanye gave the Senator some props. Second, it's also cool he thought about how Donda, his late mom, would have been proud of Joe Biden's pick.

All that said ... Kanye has made it clear -- he's in it to win it, and as we've been reporting, he's trying to get on the November ballot in certain states.

The ongoing intrigue ... what's Kanye's connection to Trump? He's supported him in the past, and Rudy Giuliani told us last weekend he believes Kanye secretly still loves Trump. And then, there's Jared Kushner, who secretly met with Kanye and speaks to him on the phone. Kushner denies they talk politics -- just policy, but it's hard/impossible to believe that.

It seems Trump's people believe Kanye could be a spoiler and hurt Biden by siphoning off black votes from the Democrats.

Forget we're in the middle of a make-or-break election ... Cardi B is already setting her sights on 2024, because she's got her eye on AOC.

Cardi just tweeted that she wants Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to throw her name in the ring for President when she turns 35 ... the required age under the Constitution.

AOC is clearly a Cardi fan ... check out her moves dancing to "Bodak Yellow." But, she's also become a big star in the Democratic party -- or at least the progressive wing of the party -- she'll give a speech next week at the Dem's convention to put Bernie Sander's name in the mix. It's a formality since Joe Biden will become the party's nominee, but AOC will have primetime exposure.

So, here's the deal. AOC is 30 ... she'll turn 31 in October. So, if she were to run in 2024, she'd be 34 -- one year shy of the minimum requirement, but WAIT. We checked the Constitution, and it says anyone can run when they're under 35 as long as they hit that age before being sworn in. Since the swearing-in would be January 20, 2025 ... she'd qualify.

A giant protest went down in D.C. Saturday morning at the home of the Postmaster General, over highly suspicious claims that millions of mail-in ballots might not be counted.

The crowd formed at the home of Louis DeJoy, who had absolutely no involvement or experience in the U.S. Postal Service until Trump appointed him. DeJoy is a Trump loyalist who has contributed money to his Presidential campaign.

DeJoy warned an untold number of ballots in 46 states might not be counted ... this as Trump has said he won't adequately fund the effort to properly count ballots. He as much as said he's against it because mail-in voting helps Democratic candidates. Overtime has already been cut and mailboxes have been removed from streets.

Trump's claims of voter fraud with mail-in ballots are provably false ... there is virtually no fraud with mail-in ballots ... the number is a small, small, small fraction of 1%.

Some of the protesters stuffed fake ballots in DeJoy's mailbox ... although it's unclear if he'll be moved by anyone other than Trump.

As you know, there's a push to expand mail-in voting because it's the safest way by far to vote during a pandemic.

Howard University's president says Sen. Kamala Harris can have a huge impact on students at her alma mater ... where majoring in political science is the hot, new thing on campus.

Dr. Wayne Frederick joined us on "TMZ Live" Friday and told us how Kamala's political rise, from poli sci major at Howard to Joe Biden's running mate, is inspiring students from all backgrounds to get involved in politics and affect change.

Kamala, who graduated from HU in 1986 and added economics to her double major, is the first HBCU grad to run on a major party's ticket ... along with being the first Black woman and person of Indian descent.

Dr. Frederick says Kamala's one of the reasons why the second most popular major for incoming freshman at Howard is political science. It helps to have a role model.

The HU Prez thinks Kamala's influence will extend far beyond minority students ... telling us why she can also inspire white students to get involved in the political process, even if they never step foot on an HBCU campus.

It's not politically one-sided either ... Dr. Frederick also explains how Kamala is helping HBCU grads play a role on both sides of the aisle.