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Mark Cuban says there's "no chance" he's trying to campaign his way into the White House ... following speculation he might run for President in 2024 after selling a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.

Comments of the supposed political move flooded in on X ... though the billionaire tells TMZ that a presidential campaign trail for next year was "galaxies off" and adding, "family would disown me."

Remember ... after years of building his empire, Mark is putting family first -- announcing on the Showtime podcast "All The Smoke" Monday he was leaving "Shark Tank" after 16 seasons as it conflicts with his personal time.

And of course ... becoming President -- arguably the busiest job in the world -- wouldn't do a whole lot to clear up his schedule.

However, he's entertained the idea before, divulging to Harvey on "OBJECTified" in 2017 that he'd run as a Republican to challenge Donald Trump. In 2019, Mark told us his family "voted down" his serious desire to run for President in 2020.

The renewed political chat gained traction after TMZ Sports confirmed Mark was selling his majority stake, reportedly valued at $3.5B, to Miriam Adelson ... getting a massive return on the investment after buying the team in 2000 for $285 million.

He'll retain some shares and be the lead decision-maker when it comes to basketball ops -- but billionaire widow/heiress Adelson has some plans of her own for the Mavs ... mainly building a new arena and casino -- if a gambling bill passes in Texas.

Joe Biden's age has come under scrutiny as 2024 approaches, but a fellow Dem is going to bat for him ... none other than Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Mayor Bass -- who served in Congress before her current gig -- told us Wednesday, all the haters who suggest JB is way too old to give the White House another go need to look no further than what he's already done for the country.

According to Bass, his record speaks for itself ... and she's not sure what else he can do to convince people he's fit to extend his tenure.

Frankly, it's no surprise Bass is backing Biden -- that's the party line, and just about every Democrat will say the exact same thing with a camera in their face. Behind the scenes, however, many Dems are singing a different tune. The polls are ominous ... Trump's beating Biden and the President's approval rating has sunk to 39%.

The mayor's playing good good soldier for her party and President, and when we brought up the prospect of Gavin Newsom coming up to the plate ... she says she won't even talk about that until 5 years from now.

If President Biden thought he could escape the Israel-Palestine noise for the holiday weekend, he was wrong -- 'cause he was met with furious pro-Palestine protesters in New England, but didn't pay them any mind.

Joe was out and about with the rest of the First Family in Nantucket, MA Friday ... just a day after Thanksgiving, where he and the Biden gang were strolling around out in public -- with a crap ton of Secret Service agents all around.

There were some regular folks who stood by and said hi to POTUS ... but just across the street was a different reception to his presence -- namely, angry/rambunctious demonstrators.

Check out the video to see what exactly they were shouting from a distance -- it was a lot of the same stuff we've heard echoed in protests all over the country since this whole conflict kicked off anew ... claims of genocide, and calls to "Free Palestine."

These protests here in Nantucket seem to have dragged on well into the evening too ... but like we said, JB straight up ignored them and pretended like he didn't hear them at all.

Interestingly, Joe's catching heat from both sides right now -- not only are liberals on the left slamming him and his administration for being what they consider too easy on Israel amid their ground operation in Gaza ... but conservatives are pissed over the latest hostage news.

You might've heard ... about 25 hostages were released from Hamas control over the past 48 hours or so, but in that first batch -- none of those people were Americans, a handful of which were captured in the initial Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

There are reports of more hostages being released Saturday, but unclear if any of them are American at this point. And if they aren't, you can expect more outcry against Joe and co.

Susan Sarandon's son thanked his mom's supporters after her controversial Israel-Palestine speech, but one thing is really bugging him ... the darn video being shown of her breasts on social media.

Miles Robbins posted a message on X, addressing his issue with Susan's bosom overshadowing the message she's trying to send about the Israel-Hamas war. As you know, Hamas rules over the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Robbins said, “Ok I’m really grateful to see people on Twitter defending my mom amidst a new era of McCarthyist blacklisting but can you PLEASE stop using the clip of her getting her hair done with her honkers out.”

In the 12-second clip, the actress is sitting in a chair wearing a bra that barely covers her boobs with one supporter on X remarking, "susan sarandon uncompromised and absolutely thriving."

Another defender said, "From the River to the Ds, you will never censor Susan Sarandon's shakers."

Recently, Susan got herself into hot water after she spoke at a pro-Palestinian rally in NYC, saying, “There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country.”

Her agents at United Talent Agency were so angered by her statements they dropped her.

John F. Kennedy was assassinated 60 years ago, and even all these years later -- folks are fascinated by the story ... and some are willing to pay big bucks for morbid memorabilia.

Some items tied to the case recently hit the auction block through RR Auction, and a handful of 'em went for a pretty penny -- we're talking five figures here. One particular JFK collectible that sold for a helluva lot included swatches of bloodstained leather ... from the limo.

Indeed ... 2 large patches that were cut straight from inside the car where President Kennedy was shot -- and which were covered in his bodily fluids -- ended up going for a ton of dough. The final amount ... $46,865!

There were other keepsakes that went for a high dollar amount ... like Lee Harvey Oswald's personally-owned revolver ($31k) and even the bullet Jack Ruby fired at LHO ($18k).

Some other standouts, however, are a little quirkier -- such as a section of the picket fence that was lining the infamous grassy knoll that's been at the center of JFK assassination conspiracy theories for years ... and these old sticks fetched a whopping $13,740.

Another highlight ... Oswald's jail phone call receipt from the Dallas jail he was held at in the aftermath. It shows he he was trying to call an attorney in New York, but was never able to reach him -- something he actually paid for before getting shot and killed.

Melissa Barrera says her firing from the 'Scream' franchise won't silence her ... and she says she's not antisemitic.

The actress responded to her "Scream 7" ouster with a statement on her Instagram story, explaining why she's been so vocal about the war in the Middle East.

Of course, it was Melissa's IG stories that got her booted from the movie in the first place ... after the production company behind "Scream 7" deemed her comments hate-inciting and antisemitic.

In response, Melissa says ... "Silence is not an option for me."

She starts out by condemning antisemitism and Islamaphobia ... and speaks out against hate and prejudice against all people.

Melissa says her Mexican heritage makes her feel a responsibility to use her platform to "raise awareness about issues I care about and to lend my voice to those in need."

She adds ... "I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism."

Remember ... Melissa got fired from "Scream 7" for her posts about Israel and Palestine, including one where she seemingly alluded to a long-standing trope about Jewish people controlling the media. In another post, Melissa compared Gaza to a concentration camp.

Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind her firing, says it showed her the door because ... "We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech."

President Biden's lighting up the Internet with his fiery birthday cake poking fun at his age -- but that won't get him over the electoral hump with the young'ns ... so says a seasoned journo.

Technology reporter Taylor Lorenz -- who covers all things digital for the Washington Post -- weighed in on Joe getting a little cheeky this week to celebrate his 81st birthday ... with a jokey post that ended up fueling endless memes online.

Everybody, it seems, made cracks ... some were light-hearted, others were a little more serious -- but according to Taylor, none of it really helps the Prez in the long run for 2024.

As she put it on Tuesday's "TMZ Live," Biden and his staff are missing the mark on how to connect with Gen Z -- mistakenly thinking that viral content and memes alone will be enough to get a full base of potential voters to pull the lever for him come next November.

Lorenz says that's not gonna do it, unfortunately -- and that Joe needs to connect with young people on a more fundamental, serious level ... through policy that helps their lives.

There are a number of issues she thinks JB's out of touch with when it comes to this specific demographic -- everything from the economy to housing and healthcare ... and even the war between Israel and Hamas. On that topic, too, she says Joe's not reflecting their view.

Of course, there are also the Biden stumbles and fumbles that happen all too often -- including recently mixing up Britney Spears and Taylor Swift -- that Lorenz says aren't serving him well.

Bottom line ... TL thinks Joe's gotta sharpen up and engage 20-somethings with substance, if he wants to rely on their support at the polls ... 'cause right now, the gimmicks aren't cutting it.

Donald Trump was once infamously alleged to have watched prostitutes pee on a bed in a "golden showers" show -- and even all these years later ... he continues to insist it ain't true.

The ex-Prez was at a campaign event in Fort Dodge, Iowa Saturday night -- and while he was hyping up his crowd ... he waded back into this very old news, just to reiterate his denial and to once again explain why it couldn't possibly be true.

Take a listen ... DT retells the story as it was alleged in a secret dossier -- which claimed he and some "hookers" were at a hotel in Russia back in 2013, and that DT watched these ladies urinate on a mattress that Barack and Michelle Obama had apparently once slept in.

Trump denied this way back in 2017 when the story first started to surface -- and he's doing the same here in 2023 ... this time roping Melania into it, and saying she totally believes him.

As he noted way back when ... he's a total germaphobe, so there's no way this can be true -- something he says the former First Lady also apparently agreed with when he tried to reassure her it was bunk.

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter -- who'd long been married to former President Jimmy Carter -- has died ... according to the family's foundation.

The Carter Center broke the news Sunday, writing ... "Our co-founder, former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia." In a lengthier statement, they went on to explain that she passed peacefully at home with her family by her side.

The news comes just a couple days after Rosalynn entered hospice care -- which her husband had actually entered as well earlier this year. She'd also recently been diagnosed with dementia.

Rosalynn served the country well while Pres. Carter was in the White House in the '70s -- and her legacy stands as someone with astute political intuition ... not to mention fine work for the American people while in office, especially in regard to mental health awareness.

By most accounts, she was one of the modern First Ladies to truly step into a public role and help shape an administration -- something all First Ladies have continued since.

Of course, her and Jimmy's humanitarian work post-presidency has been widely praised as well -- she and her hubby were the longest married presidential couple in U.S. history.

She's survived by President Carter, their four children and her grandchildren. Rosalynn was 96.

Bill Maher has an interesting take on us Americans -- we have way too many opinions on stuff that doesn't matter, and maybe we should all shut the f*** up.

The 'Real Time' host made people think Friday night -- think back just a few decades when we could consume news without making every story a battle cry about something we know little or nothing about.

Bill's got a point ... take Kylie Jenner, who posted she stands with the people of Israel and then almost immediately took that post down. As Bill says, that's kinda the opposite of standing with.

Get this -- 59% of us buy or boycott products based on the company's political or social views ... views that have nothing to do with the product itself. Just ask Anheuser-Busch or Target.

Bill says there's virtue in having NO opinion because the more we draw lines in the sand, the more divided we become.  As BM grouses, Thanksgiving has become a time when family and friends can gather together and fight about Donald Trump.

The new Speaker of the House dropped a huge batch of videos recorded inside the Capitol on Jan. 6 -- and some conspiracy theorists will, no doubt, say they prove confirmation bias.

Speaker Mike Johnson just released a massive cache of surveillance footage from inside the Capitol that was shot on that fateful day -- and you can imagine, it shows varying moments of activity as demonstrators broke in and stormed the premises.

Yes, there are instances when rioters are casually strolling through the grounds once they get inside ... and in some cases, they're actually walking right past police officers and other security personnel -- which, obviously, isn't a great look for law enforcement.

You can even see some elected officials shuffling through the halls ... and they're not necessarily sprinting as they're being escorted by armed guards. Par for the course -- a ton of conservative personalities are latching on to this as evidence Jan. 6 wasn't actually an insurrection ... but rather, a peaceful protest that's been blown out of proportion.

While those conservatives might think their point is made in this video dump -- fact is, there's even more video -- which we've all seen -- depicting the utter chaos and violence that actually unfolded.

There are countless videos of rioters squaring up and fighting cops outside -- with batons being swung, and mace being sprayed. Also not in dispute, Capitol Police officers lost their lives in the line of duty that day ... and one protester, Ashli Babbit, was shot and killed inside. So, this wasn't some kumbaya get-together.

It's interesting that Rep. Johnson -- who's known to be very Donald Trump-friendly -- was the one who ended up releasing these. Previous Speaker Kevin McCarthy had a lot of pressure on him to do the same before he was ousted, but ultimately never did.

Rosalynn Carter, the former first lady and wife of former President Jimmy Carter, is in hospice care at the family's Georgia home.

Rosalynn is 96 years old and earlier this year she was diagnosed with dementia. It's been a rough year for the Carters ... back in January, the 99-year-old former Prez also started receiving hospice care.

In a statement Friday, the Carter Center says Rosalynn and Jimmy "are spending time with each other and their family. The Carter family continues to ask for privacy and remains grateful for the outpouring of love and support."

The Carters live in Plains, Georgia ... where they were both born and raised.

Rosalynn and Jimmy have been married for 77 years, they got hitched way back in 1946 ... and she served as First Lady from 1977 to 1981 during Jimmy's 4 years in the White House.

Dwayne Johnson is changing his tune after endorsing President Biden's 2020 campaign -- instead, he's now distancing himself from POTUS in a very public way ... on Joe Rogan's super popular podcast.

The Rock and Rogan were bemoaning the fact most Americans pick their friends based on political affiliation, these days -- but the actor said he doesn't discriminate, and has Trump-lovin' pals and friends who support Biden.

But when Joe asked him if he really does have Biden-backing friends, Dwayne clarified he meant he had buddies loyal to the Democratic party. Basically, he's no longer aligning himself with Joe's leadership!

Dwayne has clearly been making quite the impact in politics ... recently divulging on Trevor Noah's Spotify podcast that last year he was approached by several political parties to see if he would run for President. That's following a 2021 poll revealing 46% of Americans would vote for him.

While he said those numbers make him confident that if he were to go down that road, he could be a real contender -- however, he added there's a lot about politics he "hates," and right now he just wants to spend time with his kids.

Dwayne did say he'd reconsider running in the future -- and Wednesday in D.C. he looked every bit like a politician.

He spent the day meeting with several Senators, on both sides of the aisle ... including Chuck Schumer, Jon Tester, Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins.

President Joe Biden seems to be setting up Gov. Gavin Newsom for a White House run -- that is, if his words here about the CA chief are any indication .. and they sure might be.

JB was in San Francisco Wednesday night for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference, which is being hosted by Cali ... and featuring the guest of honor in Chinese President Xi Jinping, who's in town to talk about his country's relationship with the U.S., etc.

While Joe was onstage ... he explicitly shouted out the Gov. with some flattering words -- and based on what he said, a lot of people think he sees him as a would-be successor.

Check it out ... 46 says Newsom's been doing a helluva job for the Golden State, and then added -- "Matter of fact, he can be anything he wants. He can have the job I'm looking for."

Of course, what Biden seems to be referring to here is the presidency itself ... for which he's currently running as he seeks reelection. Joe hasn't signaled he's bowing out for 2024 -- so, presumably, what he means here is that Newsom is primed to run in the near future.

We know Gov. Newsom's ambitious and there's been tons of rumblings in the Democratic Party that he has presidential aspirations -- so Joe confirming that is pretty telling.

BTW, this little get-together they were at yesterday ended up being high-level entertainment ... 'cause Gwen Stefani stopped by to serenade the crowd -- belting out a couple songs and even giving the Prez a hug in front of everyone.

Donald Trump may be thinking about going head-to-head with the other Republicans who are challenging him for the presidential nomination because we've learned the Secret Service has already scoped out the venue.

The next debate is scheduled for December 6 at the Moody Music Building Concert Hall at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The debate will be carried live on NewsNation. The network announced last Thursday it will host the debate, and sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... that same day Secret Service agents came to the venue and walked the premises ... inside and out.

The only candidate who has Secret Service protection is Donald Trump, who, as a former President, will be shadowed for life by the agency.

Trump has passed on the previous debates this year and there has been no obvious evidence he'll change course, given he's light-years ahead of the other candidates in the polls. But the Secret Service walk-through suggests he's thinking about showing up.

What's especially interesting ... one of the 3 moderators of the debate is Megyn Kelly, who famously sparred with Trump during a Republican debate back in 2015. The ratings went through the roof for that debate, and Trump is obsessed with ratings, so who knows?

Dwayne Johnson's getting acquainted with Capitol Hill, and while he's not not running for president -- or any other office, yet -- he IS taking meetings with U.S. senators to talk football and the military.

The Rock was in D.C. Wednesday for a sit-down with several top lawmakers, reportedly chopping it up about boosting recruitment in the Armed Forces, and the XFL ... which he owns.

Dwayne met with Senators Susan Collins, Dick Durbin, Lindsey Graham, Mark Kelly, Jon Tester, Tammy Duckworth and Todd Young ... along with his XFL CEO Dany Garcia.

Sen. Tester is the mastermind behind the meeting, and he told reporters Dwayne will advocate for folks to join the military. Sen. Collins had no qualms about fangirling out ... as she gushed about The Rock's following, and admitted she wanted to get a ton of pics with the movie star.

Dwayne's visit to Capitol Hill also saw him shake hands with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer ... and he took a photo with Capitol Police officers.

The Army, Navy and Air Force are reportedly falling short of their recruitment goals ... and it sounds like some senators believe The Rock has the influence to convince more young people to enlist.

Dwayne's visit also comes on the heels of him saying he's been approached by political parties about a potential run for president.

For now, Dwayne says he's staying on the political sidelines -- he's open to reconsidering in the future -- because, right now, he wants to spend time with his kids.