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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is in the middle of a heated debate around the viral photo of him walking barefoot on an airplane, and his response proves he's keeping 10 toes down on his stance on this issue.

The presidential candidate sent a video response to TMZ -- after seeing the controversy bubble up in our newsroom -- and he tells us it's "inexcusable" for politicians to go barefoot on an airplane and promises to never repeat the same foot faux pas.

Ya gotta see RFK Jr.'s video ... once he finishes his "apology" the camera pans away to show the naked truth -- and while he's not midflight in the video, he is sitting in an airport terminal. 😂

As you know ... the photo going around the internet shows RFK Jr. walking barefoot down a messy airplane aisle. The image was snapped earlier this month on an American Airlines flight from Portland to Dallas when RFK Jr. was sitting in first class.

Conservative commentator Justin Haskins took the now-viral photo, and on his "In The Tank" podcast Haskins claimed there was a bunch of food and debris on the floor as RFK Jr. walked barefoot to the airplane bathroom.

The gloves were off as a fistfight nearly broke out between Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Teamsters General President, Sean O'Brien, on Capitol Hill Tuesday ... resulting in a stern scolding from Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Tensions erupted when ex-MMA fighter Mullin read out tweets by O'Brien following a previous heated congressional hearing, in which he was labeled a "clown and fraud," among various other insults.

With his damning gaze firmly on his opponent, Mullin warns of a "time and place to run his mouth" ... and as "two consenting adults," they could "finish it here."

The duo urges each other to "stand their butt up" to duke it out leaving an agitated Sanders to keep the peace and remind Mullin of his responsibilities as a United States senator.

"God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress," Sanders says, clearly pissed about the showdown that was about to unfold.

Unrelenting, Sen. Mullin -- an Oklahoma Republican -- goes on to taunt his rival for "going quiet" ... only for O'Brien to hit back by likening him to a 12-year-old for challenging him to a cage match. Ouch.

Donald Trump's older sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, has died at her home in Manhattan.

The exact circumstances surrounding her death are not clear right now, but Maryanne's body was found Monday morning ... according to multiple reports. No foul play is suspected.

The elder Trump was a longtime attorney, and even served as a federal judge in New Jersey before she retired in 2019.

She was reportedly a close confidant of Donald's back in the day, and some have suggested he once took her advice and counsel very seriously -- that is, until they had an apparent falling out once he was elected President in 2016.

This all came to light in 2020 when Don and Maryanne's niece, Mary Trump, started trashing her famous uncle ... not to mention releasing tapes that appeared to show Maryanne also dogging her younger bro.

In some of those recordings, she could be heard accusing Donald of "lying" and having "no principles." Maryanne was one of Donald's 2 last living siblings -- his brothers Fred and Robert had already died.

Now, he just has his other older sister, Elizabeth, who's still alive.

Maryanne was 86.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. let it all hang out during a flight nearly two weeks ago -- and by that, we mean from the ankles down ... where he got very acquainted with a messy aisle floor.

The presidential candidate -- who's running as an independent -- was on an American Airlines plane on Nov. 2 ... where we're told he was traveling from Portland to Dallas for what appears to have been official political business, during which this eye-popping pic was snapped by conservative commentator Justin Haskins.

Haskins -- who works for a think tank called The Heartland Institute -- took this photo of RFK Jr. getting up and walking to the bathroom ... only he did it completely barefoot!

Indeed ... it's a bit surprising, considering the ground he's treading on isn't all the clean -- at least that's what Haskins said when he and his buddies talked about this on their "In The Tank" pod on Friday. According to him, there was a bunch of food and debris down there.

Listen to how Haskins puts it ... sounds like he was pretty surprised to see Bobby pull this as nonchalantly as he did, and he jokes this might even torpedo his campaign prospects.

Bill Burr's wife doesn't seem to be a fan of Donald Trump's -- that is, assuming this middle finger she fired off was for him ... and it very well may have been.

Nia Hill accompanied her comedian husband to the UFC 295 event Saturday night at NYC's Madison Square Garden -- and during one of DT's on-camera moments on the jumbotron ... she flipped the bird, which many have taken to be directly targeted for Trump.

Frankly, it's hard to tell if this F-U was, in fact, intended for The Donald or not. It looks like Trump is in the same aisle as them, but slightly angled ahead of them as they're seated.

Nia throws up two single-finger salutes right at the UFC team pans to them ... but it seems like she's perhaps doing it straight to the camera itself, as opposed to DT who's to her right. Whatever her intention was, right-wing Twitter certainly took it as an insult to the ex-Prez.

As a result, he's getting a ton of hate from conservatives ... 'cause they see his wife's would-be gesture toward Trump as a reflection of his own politics -- even though he holds that pretty close to the vest.

Burr occupies this nebulous comedy space ... at times, he comes out swinging against "wokeness" but also rails on right-wingers just as much. Dude's an enigma, for sure -- and more importantly, there aren't many interviews he's done where he straight-up craps on DT.

Now, he's in the crosshairs of MAGA loyalists ... who are still very much with 45. The UFC crowd also appeared to welcome his presence ... as he rolled in with Dana White, Tucker Carlson and Kid Rock.

Tucker Carlson is open to playing GOP candidate wrangler for a debate, but the Republicans would have to be down with the parameters he'd demand ... TMZ has learned.

In case you missed this week's debate, Vivek Ramaswamy gave a full-throated endorsement for Tucker to moderate a future Republican debate, predicting it would spark a major ratings boost.

Well, sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Vivek has personally verbalized this wish to Tucker himself, and while the former Fox News firebrand likes the idea of doing it -- he's not keen about doing it on a traditional TV network.

We're told Tucker actually spoke to GOP officials about the role back in the summer, after Fox News let him go ... but he didn't want to fall back in with corporate media, which he thinks is all buddy-buddy with the RNC.

So, the only way Vivek's dream will come true is if the party approves the debate airing exclusively on X. Obviously, Elon Musk would love that, but our source adds the real benefit for the RNC could be finally landing Donald Trump ... who's been absent from previous debates.

The feeling is Tucker's involvement might prompt Trump to participate.

Tucker's potential involvement came about after GOP candidate Vivek took aim at NBC's Lester Holt, Hugh Hewitt, and Kristen Welker during Wednesday night's third battle of Republican candidates.

As it turns out, the journalists got off easy ... relative to Ramaswamy's attack on Nikki Haley, who he called "Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels."

JFK's assassination 60 years ago this month was not the work of a lone gunman, and Rob Reiner & Soledad O'Brien are naming names.

Rob and Soledad joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday to talk about their new podcast, "Who Killed JFK?," which debuted Wednesday. They present a compelling case -- Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone back on November 22, 1963.

The "All in the Family" star and mega-producer has been obsessed with the assassination since he was 16, when Kennedy was shot, and he's been doing deep research ever since. Rob previewed his theories with us, clearly suggesting there were rogue government officials who plotted to get JFK.

Soledad and Rob agreed ... much of the distrust Americans feel toward their government emanated from the Kennedy assassination.

There are CIA connections to the plot to kill Kennedy, and even President Lyndon B. Johnson -- who succeeded Kennedy -- had a significant role in the coverup, according to Rob.

The fascination with the assassination has hardly subsided ... there's even an auction going on to sell a portion of the infamous picket fence behind the grassy knoll.

6:08 PM PT -- More fireworks between Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley ... this after he attacked her family over their use of TikTok, which spurred her to tell him to keep her daughters' names out of his mouth.

Will Smith's words live on ...

Vivek Ramaswamy came out swinging at the third Republican debate this week -- but it wasn't so much at his political rivals ... instead, he took aim at the moderators.

The polarizing GOP candidate went on the offensive right out the gate Wednesday in Miami ... this after one of the NBC moderators, Lester Holt, asked why he thought he should be the Republican nominee instead of Donald Trump ... who's still leading the pack by a lot.

Instead of answering the question directly, VR went on a rant bashing the party at large -- this after some tough losses in national elections Tuesday -- and called the GOP "losers."

He blamed the GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel for that, but then turned his focus on Lester, Hugh Hewitt and Kristen Welker -- all of whom were moderating ... saying they didn't deserve to be moderating this ... and that Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan and Elon Musk did.

FWIW ... Vivek's done a lot of sit-downs with Tucker lately -- and he seems to be a fan of JR and EM, too. Lester ended up cutting him short once it became clear he was just bashing.

Vivek did eventually go after the other candidates, though ... including a shot at Nikki Haley -- whom he characterized as a Dick Cheney-esque neo-con in "3-inch heels." Low blow, indeed.

Embattled U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is hearing renewed calls for his resignation, but this time it's coming with big laughs ... courtesy of a satirical movie trailer-inspired message.

The 2-minute clip uses cinematic voice-over calling out Menendez for his long list of alleged grievances -- federal corruption and bribery, to name a couple -- and also mixes in scenes from the 1991 comedy, "What About Bob?"

The result is hilarious clips of Richard Dreyfuss complaining about Bob ... hammering home New Jersey's frustrations with the fact the Senator won't step down from office amid the ongoing investigation into his alleged crimes.

The trailer also uses actual footage and soundbites from Menendez and his wife Nadine Arslanian Menendez -- including interviews where he's asked directly, "Don't you serve your state better by resigning now?"

Of course, the Senator confidently replies nope!

The clip also mockingly refers to him as "Senator Bob Menendez (D-Egypt)" ... referring to the fact he's accused of monopolizing the Egyptian market for importing halal meat. It also calls him out for threatening the Democratic Party's majority in the Senate.

The senator's enemies are urging folks on X to repost the trailer in order to urge Menendez to resign immediately. Don't hold your breath for that, however, film reviews are pouring in for the trailer.

Jon Voight is on opposite ends of the Israel-Palestine conflict from his daughter, Angelina Jolie ... and he explained in impassioned terms why he thinks she's wrong.

The actor posted a lengthy video on Instagram, in which he torches his own flesh and blood for her mostly pro-Palestine stance ... where she called for a ceasefire, and condemned Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza.

JV says Israel is in the midst of war, and that their retaliation, by nature, will be ugly ... which he believes is justified due to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack carried out by Hamas.

As Jon puts it ... he says he's disappointed with Angie for "having no understanding of God's honor, God's truths" -- going on to call Israel's response in Gaza "justice for God's children in the Holy land. He also says this conflict can't be civil now ... it's gone too far for that.

Jon also points out a tactic that many military strategists say Hamas uses in burrowing itself among innocent Palestinians -- namely, using human shields to defend themselves.

Bottom line ... Jon is very much pro-Israel, and is nowhere near calling for peace like AJ. FWIW, JV's words here are probably falling on deaf ears ... he's estranged from his kid.

As far as his point, though ... the bodies are piling up in Gaza -- well over 9,000 now by many estimations -- and Israel is facing increased scrutiny for their cause. More and more U.S. politicians are calling for a "pause" ... including President Joe Biden and his staff.

Thousands upon thousands descended onto our nation's capital this weekend to decry the Israel-Palestine war ... eventually hitting the White House to make their voices heard.

A massive protest formed in Washington D.C. Saturday, with upwards of a hundred thousand (if not more) pro-Palestine demonstrators marching through the streets of the city and calling for an immediate ceasefire -- while also consistently yelling "Free Palestine!"

It's one of the largest such gatherings that has taken place since the conflict kicked off last month -- and it's quite clear they don't think our government is on the right side of history here, including President Joe Biden ... whose name was front and center the whole time.

That became abundantly clear when a huge group of protesters eventually landed at the White House -- or at the front gate rather ... which keeps onlookers quite a ways away.

Still, they certainly made their presence known ... so much so, that it attracted the attention of Secret Service agents -- who came out onto the lawn and made sure nobody breached the gate and made their way onto the grounds, and by the looks of it ... no one did.

Nonetheless ... the protest at the White House got a little scary, especially when a handful of people actually scaled the gate and waved Palestinian flags ... without ever going over. There were also chants of "F*** Joe Biden" that could be heard, as well as "Allahu Akbar" ... an Arabic phrase that is the cornerstone of the Islam faith, meaning "God is most great."

The reactions to the protest are divided, and really come down to how folks feel about the Middle East conflict right now -- those who are pro-Palestine saw it as righteous and needed ... whereas others viewed it as a startling move that potentially portends worse to come.

Either way ... these people were out there making their voices heard -- and while there are reports of a smattering of arrests here and there, it looks to have remained mostly peaceful.

Part of the reason the pro-Palestine protest might've made its way to D.C. is because of how the U.S. is responding to the ongoing ground operation being conducted by Israel ... which continues to move its way through Gaza in search of the Hamas terrorists and hostages.

Of course, it goes without saying ... as they've attempted to root out Hamas, there have been many civilian casualties along the way -- with Palestinian officials saying the body count on their end is nearing the 5-digit mark ... something that has drawn concern from some of Israel's allies, including the U.S.

Reports say American officials, including Sec. of State Anthony Blinken, are quietly asking Israel to hit pause -- but it doesn't sound like Benjamin Netanyahu is heeding his request.

This sentiment against Israel is growing and becoming more popular with celebs as well -- more and more high-profile people are demanding Israel stop their campaign ... insisting their response is disproportionate now, and is claiming too many innocents in the process.

Macklemore is among those stars who's been speaking out -- in fact, he was there in D.C. Saturday and spoke to a group of demonstrators in an impassioned speech ... in which he called what Israel is doing in Gaza "genocide," and that got a big cheer from the crowd.

The issue has become incredibly divisive in the States ... but as the weeks drag on, we're seeing more and more people hitting the streets -- and they're often pro-Palestine.

Like we said ... Israel, thus far, is sticking to its guns on their mission. They feel they have every right to move in and exact justice over the 1,400 innocent Israelis who were butchered.

Tan Mom Patricia Krentcil is on the mend after a very risky surgical procedure ... and she's gearing up to get back on the campaign trail as she runs for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida.

Tan Mom's campaign manager, Adam Barta tells TMZ ... she was admitted to a hospital in Boca Raton last Monday for bypass surgery to remove the stent separating her pancreas and liver.

We're told Tan Mom previously had the stent inserted because of her pancreatitis, and when doctors removed it this time, her organs had major swelling and caused her a ton of pain.

What's more, we're told doctors discovered gallstones stuck by her liver during the surgery ... and she's going to have to go back under the knife in the future to address the issue.

Tan Mom's camp characterized the procedure as "very risky" for her ... and we're told she's recovering at home and recently regained her ability to walk.

We're told Tan Mom's hoping next week she'll be feeling well enough to make her scheduled campaign stops as she runs for one of Florida's seats in the U.S. Senate. She's filming a new campaign video next week with Dr. Miami, who did her makeover in her reality series, "Tan to 10."

Barack Obama spoke out about the conflict between Israel and Palestine -- and he says two things must be acknowledged as true ... on both sides of this thorny issue.

The former President was recently speaking at an event, and his remarks were captured by Pod Save America -- which says his full interview is coming out Tuesday. But from the snippet they released, BO says quite a bit ... and fully admits, this is complicated.

Take a look for yourself to see what exactly he says ... essentially, he condemns Hamas and the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel -- but in the same breath, condemns Israel's response.

He says there are innocent people in Gaza who've been wrapped up in this that have nothing to do with Hamas ... and yet, also notes the history of Jews being segregated/persecuted over their identity as a people. In other words, there's validity in each POV here.

In terms of folks debating this problem, Obama says it can't be hashed out on social media -- and it can't be solved unless everybody tells the "whole truth" about a complex topic.

He also says people have to learn to speak to others on the opposite end and be able to do so civilly ... and encourages everyone to see that there's complicity on all fronts of this. It's a word salad, but if you're wondering what he's actually arguing for now ... you're outta luck.

Barack doesn't really say what he thinks should happen going forward, nor does he specify what exactly he's calling for at this point ... at least not in what's uploaded at the moment. Perhaps we'll hear more from him in the coming days.

A California lawmaker is now in trouble with the law after she blamed her drunk driving arrest on a sneeze, causing her to crash -- while she was reportedly double the legal alcohol limit.

State Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo was cruising in her Audi in L.A. early Friday morning when she collided with another car, which lurched forward, striking a third vehicle.

A resident heard a loud bang and ran outside with his cell phone, filming what he described as an obviously intoxicated Carrillo, who was slurring her words and reeked of booze.

Check out the video ... responding LAPD officers approached Carrillo, who offered this explanation for the crash, "I'm sorry, I sneezed, and I lost track of the vehicle."

The cops administered a field sobriety test to Carrillo, who, at one point, lost her balance and nearly fell to the ground, but one of the officers caught her.

Carrillo was then arrested and booked for suspicion of driving under the influence during a traffic collision with a high blood-alcohol count, the L.A. Times reported.

LAPD Capt. Kelly Muniz told the media outlet Carrillo's alcohol level was “double the legal limit or more.”

After she was released from jail without bail, Carrillo issued a statement, accepting responsibility for her actions, while acknowledging as a public servant she must be held to a higher standard. She also apologized to her family, constituents and staff members and promised to "seek the necessary help and support.”

Bill Maher was on a tear Friday night, calling out progressives and academics who crap on Israel as an "outpost of Western civilization" ... because Western civilization is responsible for the freedoms and opportunities we supposedly cherish.

The "Real Time" host basically thinks the growing movement in America justifying what Hamas did to Israel is absurd. If they support Hamas, BM posits, then they're okay with domestic violence, homophobia, child marriage and on and on, because that's that's the Hamas playbook.

Bill's not railing on Palestinians ... there's plenty of evidence the majority do NOT support Hamas, he's comparing the terrorism at the core of Hamas to the guardrails and freedoms that have been the core of Western civilization for centuries -- freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to a fair trial, women's rights, and on and on. Oh, and in Western civilization, there IS such a thing as a war crime.

Maher sees it this way ... "Western civ" for progressives and academics is shorthand for "white people ruin everything."

Items linked to John F. Kennedy's assassination are now up for auction, 60 years after he was killed ... including objects from the infamous grassy knoll and even the killer's grim past.

RR Auction has over 80 objects up for sale connected to November 22, 1963 ... including a section of the wooden picket fence behind the "grassy knoll" that overlooked the Presidential parade route. Lots of people -- including many who were there that day -- believe at least one gunman fired from that fence.

That's not all -- the auction house is selling a window from the Texas School Book Depository ... the building where Lee Harvey Oswald fired shots at JFK.

Also included in the auction are Oswald's first handgun, which he sold to his brother for $10 ... and Oswald's phone call receipt from jail -- the call he made just 1 day after JFK's assassination and one day before Oswald himself was shot and killed while in custody.

There are a ton of hidden gems for history buffs ... a lucky bidder can secure JFK's personal diary from 1945 ... which features a ton of insights before he became President.