White House

So POTUS, FLOTUS, the VP and the Second Gentleman all walk into a bar ... much to the delight of a bunch of stunned patrons.

President Biden and his wife, Jill -- flanked by Kamala Harris, her husband, Doug, and some Secret Service agents, of course -- hit up the popular D.C. restaurant, Le Diplomate ... in a Memorial Day visit the White House says was unscheduled.

As you can see ... the diners weren't expecting such famous guests to be joining them for lunch, but everyone looked happy as heck about it.

Earlier Monday, Biden and Harris and their spouses attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Biden's Le Diplomate appearance is his first known sit-down visit to a restaurant as Prez, coming not long after the CDC lifted COVID-19 restrictions for those who are vaccinated.

BTW -- the French eatery is a known favorite of the First Lady's ... it even added her favorite dish as a menu special earlier this year after Biden was elected President.

President Biden's calling on Americans to reflect on one of the worst incidents of racial violence ever in our country in order to root out systemic racism ... 100 years after it happened.

The White House issued a proclamation acknowledging the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, in which a mob of white supremacists attacked a thriving Black neighborhood called Greenwood ... also known as Black Wall Street.

The massacre took place on May 31 and June 1, and as Biden states ... "Families and children were murdered in cold blood." As many as 300 Black Americans were killed as the white mob torched buildings, churches, businesses and homes ... destroying 35 square blocks of the district and leaving 10,000 Black people homeless.

The Prez says on this solemn anniversary, he's asking the American people to "reflect on the deep roots of racial terror in our Nation and recommit to the work of rooting out systemic racism across our country."

Though the Tulsa Race Massacre is one of the most horrific events in American history, it was mostly covered up and kept from the public for half a century. In fact, many hadn't even heard of it until the 2019 HBO series "Watchmen" included it as a storyline.

One year after George Floyd's murder sparked nationwide protests against police brutality, his family's meeting with President Biden as Congress struggles to pass the police reform bill bearing George's name.

The Prez hosted Floyd's family at the White House Tuesday, and George's nephew, Brandon Williams, says Biden seemed sincere in wanting to know how the family's doing and how he can help.

George's brother, Philonise Floyd, put pressure on lawmakers to pass police reform, saying if there are federal laws on the books to protect bald eagles, there should be laws to protect minorities.

We got more of Floyd's family on Capitol Hill, where they were accompanied by Lil Baby, and they told our photog it's the closest they've ever felt to meaningful change as they wait for reforms to pass.

George's daughter, Gianna, also showed us the coin she got from Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- her open invitation to return to the Capitol whenever she pleases.

As you know ... Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020 when Minneapolis PD officers were arresting him. Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on George's neck for more than 9 minutes ... was convicted of Floyd's murder last month.

Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris reacted to the guilty verdict by saying it would spark change in the country, and could help end systemic racism and make America a place where law enforcement treats everyone equally.

They also hoped it would lead to serious policing reform, with Biden pushing Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act -- which would create national policing standards, ban chokeholds and end legal protections for law enforcement against civil lawsuits -- by the 1-year anniversary of his death.

George Floyd's family will travel to The White House Tuesday to meet with President Biden on the first anniversary of Floyd's murder ... this according to The Hill.

Biden has history with the family ... he spoke with them several times after Floyd's death. The visit coincides with Democrats trying to pass a bill bearing George Floyd's name ... a bill designed to reimagine policing in America.

It's unclear if the family will speak with members of Congress during their visit in support of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Among other things, the bill would ban chokeholds by federal officers. It would also end qualified immunity ... which bars families of police abuse from filing civil suits. The bill is expected to pass the house, but prospects in the Senate are far less certain.

Although Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, civil rights activists like Tamika Mallory say the trial can't be looked at as a solution to police abuse.

Donald Trump is getting dragged into court for using the term "China virus" ... a new lawsuit says the former President caused a lot of harm to Chinese Americans with the phrase.

Trump's getting sued by the Chinese American Civil Rights Coalition ... and they're pissed over him constantly referring to COVID-19 as "Chinese virus," "Wuhan virus" and "Kung Flu" while he was in office.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the CACRC claims Trump's use of the derogatory terms contributed to the recent rise in violence against Chinese and Asian Americans ... and they claim he should have known better.

As you know ... Trump infamously crossed out "corona virus" in the text of a March 2020 speech and replaced it with "Chinese virus" ... and the CACRC claims he shouldn't have used the term because it’s not entirely clear where the virus actually originated.

In the suit, the CACRC says Trump's constant use of "China virus" was essentially a dog whistle to his legions of supporters, and they claim it has harmed Chinese Americans.

Barack Obama says his daughters have probably been scared straight when it comes to public service ... and it's due to the "PTSD" they experienced as White House kids.

The former President did James Corden's 'Late Late Show' show Monday, when he was asked about getting young people inspired to get into public service or politics -- and, naturally, the convo honed in on BO's own kids.

Corden noted Malia and Sasha had lived under a spotlight for 8 whopping years while their dad was POTUS, and that's exactly why Barack says they're likely to pass on running for office themselves in the future.

He jokes about them still having post-traumatic stress disorder from their Secret Service detail growing up -- with agents accompanying them on dates and to concerts -- but he's obviously kidding. Well, we're laughing ... Sasha and Malia might not be.

In all seriousness, Barack says his girls have developed into spectacular young women -- and he genuinely believes they'll find another way to serve their communities outside of politics.

President Biden is just like us -- meaning, the guy sends quick cash to his friends and family on Venmo, which might sound like no big deal ... but it really might be, big picture.

Joe's private Venmo account was tracked down in a rather quick fashion Friday by BuzzFeed, which says it only took them about 10 minutes or so to find it after an NYT article went up earlier in the day saying he sends his grandkids money on the peer-to-peer money app.

The outlet reports all they used were in-app features to quickly find associates to Joe's -- and before they knew it, they landed on 46 ... plus a small network of his immediate family, like his wife and children (Jill and Hunter), extended family (grandchildren) and senior White House officials.

They weren't able to see his transaction history itself -- since it was set to private, which is NOT the default setting for Venmo -- but they say some in Biden's extended Venmo network weren't private ... and they could see what they'd been up to in recent days on there.

Here's the problem, as BFN points out ... a hacker/troll and/or a freakin' adversary spy could easily locate these people and harass them, or even attempt to infiltrate Biden's inner circle -- potentially posing as someone while gathering intel and activities and patterns.

Covering the White House looks way different today -- there are very few face coverings in the Press Room as the government and the news biz react to the new CDC guidelines.

During Friday's press briefing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., all staffers were mask-free. Ditto for almost all of the reporters who were present. Looks like 2 or 3 holdouts were still taking precautions, and everyone was still practicing social distancing.

No such concerns over at 30 Rock in NYC, though. "Today" hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb are getting way closer than they've been in more than a year, and they're absolutely giddy about it.

They kicked off Friday's show sitting right next to each other, and even held hands for a bit. Viewers have gotten used to seeing TV hosts seated at least 6 feet apart during the pandemic, but the CDC's flipped things back to pre-COVID ... for some, anyway.

As you know, the CDC's new guidance says fully vaccinated Americans have the green light to ditch masks and eliminate social distancing outdoors AND indoors -- but not everyone's rushing back to total "normalcy."

Check out the folks over at 'GMA' ... anchors Michael Strahan, Cecilia Vega and George Stephanopoulos were still socially distanced during Friday's show -- perhaps reflecting a big difference in the corporate policies for ABC and NBC.

As we showed you, after President Biden's milestone speech Thursday from the Rose Garden, he and VP Kamala Harris couldn't mask their joy over the CDC's new guidance as they hugged and laughed ... sans masks.

So far, at least 10 states have completely lifted their mask mandates on the heels of the CDC's announcement, but several others, like NY and Cali, aren't celebrating just yet.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris can't mask their joy over the CDC's new recommendation that fully vaccinated people can ditch their face coverings -- indoors and outdoors ... it's all over their faces!

The Prez delivered a speech in the Rose Garden a bit ago on the heels of the CDC's announcement, calling it a great milestone and a great day after more than a year of pandemic anxiety, and yes ... mask fatigue.

Biden went on to applaud the success of the COVID vaccine rollout in the U.S. and promisingly low coronavirus numbers. After his speech ... Joe and Kamala walked off side-by-side with huge smiles -- easy to see without face coverings.

POTUS and the Veep weren't the only ones in D.C. showing elation ... we got Congressmen Eric Swalwell, Greg Pence and Michael Guest on Capitol Hill palling around, maskless.

We asked them about the petition to rename the Ronald Reagan Airport after JoJo Siwa, and despite Swalwell being a Dem and the other 2 guys being Republicans ... they all reached a consensus.

JoJo Siwa says she's a big fan of the movement to remove Ronald Reagan's name from an airport in favor of her ... telling us it would be the SICKEST THING EVER!!!

We got the YouTube star at Craig's in WeHo Wednesday night and asked about the petition to change Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to the JoJo Siwa Washington National Airport.

JoJo says she's on board with the change, telling us it's the best idea she's ever heard in her life. The petition's already got 33,000 signatures and counting, and JoJo says her mom told her to sign on too.

Folks signing the petition seem to have very specific beefs with the former President, saying he "rigged the economy for the rich and screwed over everyone else" ... but JoJo says she knows nothing about RR, other than the fact he's got an airport named after him.

Rep. Liz Cheney has committed the cardinal GOP sin by deviating from the Donald Trump litmus test and it's a sad day for the Grand Old Party ... so says Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

We got the Republican Congressman from Illinois on Capitol Hill Wednesday, in the wake of Cheney's ouster from her GOP leadership post, and he couldn't be clearer ... telling the truth about the election will crush you.

Rep. Kinzinger mused what a weird time it is when leaders get pushed out for being honest, telling us Cheney's ouster says a lot about former President Trump's grip over his party.

As you know ... Cheney was fired from House Leadership because she dared to challenge Trump over false claims of a stolen presidential election.

Rep. Kinzinger says Cheney still has a lot of support in the party, but those in her corner are staying quiet for fear of suffering the same fate as her.

Adam's laying the blame at the feet of GOP leadership and not Republican voters. In fact, if the 2024 choice is Trump vs. Cheney, he's already made his decision, and it's not Trump.

One of Barack and Michelle Obama's family dogs -- Bo, the older of the two Portuguese Water Dogs they have -- has died.

Michelle shared the sad news Saturday with a heartfelt tribute to their pooch, saying they'd said goodbye to their longtime companion after a battle with cancer.

His dog mom wrote, "On the campaign trail in 2008, we promised our daughters that we would get a puppy after the election. At the time, Bo was supposed to be a companion for the girls. We had no idea how much he would mean to all of us."

Michelle went on to detail all the times Bo had been there for their family, both in an official capacity and behind the scenes as well. She said Bo was there when Malia and Sasha came home from school, there for POTUS and FLOTUS when they needed a break ... and there for huge WH events over the years, including the Easter Egg Roll and when the Pope visited.

She says he was also there when the dust settled after they'd left the White House ... helping Barack and Michelle see the girls off to college, being a steadfast furry friend. BTW, speaking of Barack and Michelle's kids ... part of the reason they ended choosing Bo and Sunny was due to them being hypoallergenic, something Malia needed for her allergies.

Anyway, Michelle adds that Bo loved the pandemic ... because all his fave humans were under one roof again, and some great quality time spent with him over the past year. She also says this ... "As a family, we will miss Bo dearly. But we are thankful that he lived such a joyful life full of snuggles, games of fetch, and evenings spent lying on the couch."

The former First Lady ended with a plea to the public ... many of whom also came to love Bo as their First Dog during their time in office.

She says, "We also know we weren’t the only ones who cared for Bo, and are grateful for all the love you showed him over the years. Please hug the furry members of your family a little closer tonight -- and give them a belly rub from us."

Bo's younger sister, Sunny, is still kicking ... but it's gotta be heartbreaking to lose their male canine friend -- who'd been with the family for such a long time. He was only 12.

RIP

Barack Obama had nothing but beautiful things to say about Willie Mays on the MLB legend's birthday ... even saying the ex-SF Giant helped pave the way for his presidency.

Obama posted the cool happy birthday note to the former slugger on his Twitter page Thursday ... saying, "Happy 90th birthday to Willie Mays!"

"If it wasn't for folks like Willie and Jackie Robinson, I might never have made it to the White House."

Obama continued, "The spirit he played with and the way he carried himself changed the game and people’s attitudes. I’m glad he’s still going strong."

Obama and Mays have had a friendship that dates back years ... Mays famously rode on Air Force 1 with Obama in 2009 when the two were on the way to the '09 MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis.

Obama later went on to joke about that trip ... saying, "Very rarely when I'm on Air Force 1 am I the second-most important guy on there. Everybody was just passing me by, 'Can I get you something, Mr. Mays?"

In 2015, Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Mays as well.

Mays is to this day still one of the best baseball players that's ever lived ... he was a 2-time MVP, 24-time All-Star and a 12-time Gold Glove winner.

It seems Vice President Kamala Harris was waiting to move into one famous D.C. home while living in another that also needed major renovations ... almost $2 million worth!!!

According to federal docs obtained by TMZ ... the Blair House, AKA The President's Guest House, is set for an HVAC replacement among other substantial upgrades over the next year.

The docs show the Public Buildings Service of The White House is dishing out nearly $1.79 mil to a company called Gaghan Mechanical to get the job done.

As we reported ... the Veep and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff had been living at the historic, 19th-century row house located just steps away from The White House since President Biden's inauguration.

That's because the VP's traditional home at the Naval Observatory was also getting a bunch of repairs ... but Kamala and Doug were finally able to move into that fancy mansion last month.

Michael Flynn either forgot the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, or he's a master at working for the crowd with MC call-backs ... and a lot of people think it's the former.

President Trump's former National Security Advisor -- and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, no less -- showed up Sunday at a pro-Trump rally down in South Carolina ... an event called "Bikers for Trump" which was held at the HonkyTonk Saloon.

At one point, Mike got on stage and led the audience in reciting the pledge ... and he kinda made a big show about it too, which made his weird silence look even worse.

Check it out ... Flynn starts out strong with the memorable words, but once he got past the initial sentence -- he seemed to have gotten his tongue-tied on the exact phrasing, and stopped talking altogether. Luckily, the crowd knew the rest ... and they finished it out.

MF hopped back in at "under God, indivisible." Unclear if he truly forgot -- or if he was doing that for dramatic effect ... but in any case, the pro-Trumpers didn't really mind. They gave him a big round of applause afterward, and it looked like they appreciated the gesture.

Of course, Twitter was having a field day with the awkward moment ... with many cracking jokes at Flynn's expense, saying a lot of guys from Putin's inner circle tend to have trouble with the pledge.

He was also accused of being a traitor -- which harkens back to his early tenure in the Trump WH ... when he was found to have been feeding intel to Russian operatives during the transition, something he lied about to Mike Pence (and the FBI) and ultimately got convicted for amid Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

If you thought Utah Republicans forgot all about Senator Mitt Romney turning his back on Donald Trump -- welp, they haven't. Exhibit A ... this tidal wave of boos.

The Utah U.S. Senator showed face Saturday at a GOP convention at the Maverik Center in his home state -- but not one of the 2,000 or so delegates on hand seemed all too happy to see him step to the podium ... and they made their displeasure known, very loudly.

Check out this brutal scene ... the entire building is straight-up booing the man, with no shame whatsoever. He was also reportedly met with taunts and jeers, likening him to a "communist" and a "traitor." Unfortunately for Romney, he got booed the hell off stage.

We'll give him credit -- he tried holding his own up there for a while, even bringing up Biden's first 100 days, seemingly in an effort to curry favor with the Utah crowd. They weren't having any of it, though ... and Romney eventually addressed the elephant in the room.

He said it's no secret he wasn't the biggest fan of Trump's "character" before someone came to get him. That's an understatement if we ever heard one -- and big-time downplaying.

Fact is ... Romney drew his line in the sand many times over, especially with his impeachment votes. You might recall ... he twice voted to convict Trump at his trials, agreeing that the guy had either 1) abused his presidential power or 2) incited an insurrection. Trump was acquitted in both instances.