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Thomas Matthew Crooks was casually strolling around the Butler, PA rally just hours before he attempted to assassinate Donald Trump ... new video shows.

Newly uncovered footage recorded at 4:26 PM shows Crooks in his final hours back on July 13 ... walking around the premises without his backpack -- or the rifle he later used in his failed assassination attempt on Trump.

In the footage, he’s seen gazing off into the distance in what was the calm before the storm.

Hillary Clinton could barely contain her glee when the Democratic National Convention erupted in a "Lock him up" chant after a pointed dig at Donald Trump ... and she appeared to revel in the karma.

The chant -- a remix of the "Lock her up" motto used by Trump and his supporters in the 2016 presidential election -- bubbled up from the crowd in Chicago and kept building ... after the former Secretary of State called out the former prez's multiple felony convictions.

While Clinton didn't address the crowd's outburst directly, she did take a moment to pause at the podium ... where she surveyed the masses, smiled and nodded as they continued.

The working title of President Joe Biden's farewell speech at the DNC: I Got Yer Sleepy Joe Right Here!

Well, it could've been, because, ironically, the guy who was forced out of running for another term, mostly due to a horrific late-night performance at the first presidential debate ... didn't even start speaking to the Democratic National Convention until after 10 PM in Chicago.

Biden's speech, coming on the first night of the DNC, was -- as expected -- a scathing attack on Donald Trump, a firm endorsement of his VP Kamala Harris' presidential campaign ... and also his swan song from American politics.

George Santos, who was expelled from Congress after being charged with nearly two dozen crimes, cut a deal with federal prosecutors, pleading guilty to two counts instead.

Santos reached the deal Monday ... pleading guilty to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud ... according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

The plea deal comes a few weeks before Santos was set to stand trial in New York ... and while the deal likely means there will be no trial, it remains to be seen how the judge will treat George at the sentencing.

Donald Trump might have some "Bad Blood" with Taylor Swift after his latest social media stunt ... as the former prez suggested the pop star has publicly endorsed him -- when she definitely has not.

Trump took to Truth Social Sunday evening to share several photos of women wearing "Swifties for Trump" T-shirts ... though, many of the images are clearly doctored.

Trump also shared an AI-created image of Taylor dressed as Uncle Sam that blared the caption, "Taylor wants YOU to vote for Donald Trump."

Republicans are shooting off at Tim Walz, trying to clown the Democratic VP nominee for using IVF by carrying around cups of fake semen ... yeah, we're serious.

Pictures have hit the internet of people outfitted in MAGA merch -- pictures of Donald Trump, bald eagles and American flags plastered on the chest -- and, in their hands they're holding sperm sample cups with J.D. Vance's face stickered on the front.

Next to his face, the cups read, "J.D. Vance Full Family Kit" ... basically saying the senator from Ohio has some strong swimmers -- after all, he's already got three children.

J.D. Vance's attacks on Kamala Harris ain't slowing down ... in fact, he's going even harder on the VP -- likening her to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Republican candidate for vice president made the controversial remark on "Fox News Sunday" ... starting in on Harris' economic record given soaring inflation during her time as vice president.

Vance says handing over the reins of economic policy to Harris is like having Epstein come up with human trafficking policy ... adding the American people know better than to believe Harris.

Kanye West is still riding for Donald Trump, but now he's doing it in a Cybertruck with new wife Bianca Censori ... and their surprise appearance at a Trump rally quickly got outta hand.

Ye and Bianca rolled up Saturday in Bev Hills, where supporters of the former president were waving American flags and "Make America Great Again" banners. They just stopped on the side of the road, but that was enough to fire up the crowd.

Check out the video ... a group swarms the Tesla, not realizing at first it's Kanye behind the wheel, but when they spot him, they go nuts and start chanting his name!

J.D. Vance's campaign plane, a Boeing 737 known as "Trump Force Two," has made an emergency landing ... adding to the year's already lengthy list of the company's jet issues.

The Ohio senator and his team were forced to touch back down in Milwaukee Friday ... after a door-seal malfunction was detected shortly after takeoff, his campaign rep Taylor Van Kirk confirmed.

The Vice Presidential hopeful was in Wisconsin -- a crucial swing state heading into November's Presidential election -- to attend a campaign event, where he spoke to the Milwaukee Police Association.

J.D. Vance seems to hold the opinion women who are too old to have kids exist on this Earth solely to help younger generations take care of their kids.

Donald Trump's running mate agreed with that basic sentiment during an April 2020 appearance on "The Portal" podcast, when host Eric Weinstein claimed grandmothers raising their grandkids is "the whole purpose of the postmenopausal female."

The Republican Senator from Ohio was talking about the benefits of having his wife's mother help take care of their newborn son when Weinstein made his claim ... and Vance agreed.

The X interview between Donald Trump and Elon Musk went off with a big hitch -- the interview was delayed for nearly an hour because of tech issues -- but it was what appeared to be a lisp by 45 that stole the show ... at least on social media.

It was almost cartoon-like, as Trump sounded like he was slurring his words, but it came off like a not-so-subtle lisp.

Some folks are passing it off to the technical problems that dogged the interview from the jump. One person called it "audio compression." Others thought it might be evidence he just had dental work.

George Santos is defending J.D. Vance as he faces allegations of dressing up like a woman when he was in law school ... George says one thing is clear, it's definitely NOT drag.

The ousted GOP congressman tells TMZ ... the images allegedly showing Donald Trump's running mate wearing a blonde wig and a skirt come across as more cross-dresser than drag queen.

George, of course, has dealt with a similar scandal himself ... when a former friend in Brazil posted an old photo from his days as a drag performer.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump are finally chopping it up ... the former president is doing a live interview on Elon's social media platform, X, after a rough start to the much-ballyhooed event ... and they're focusing on illegal immigration and the assassination attempt.

Trump got a huge laugh out of Elon when he said ... "Illegal immigration saved my life."

The former president was talking about how a chart on illegal immigration led to him turning his head ever so slightly at his July 13 rally in Butler, PA ... moving his head just enough to avoid being hit squarely by a bullet when Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump is back on the social media platform that once booted him -- breaking a year-long silence on X to drop new campaign videos, and hyping his next big interview.

A two-and-a-half-minute ad that posted Monday morning not only serves to promote Trump's campaign, but ya can't ignore the timing of him using X after such a long break. It's no coincidence X owner Elon Musk will be interviewing Trump on a live stream Monday evening ... which will be hosted on Trump's X page.

Trump typically saves his social posts for his own platform, Truth Social, or TikTok -- and hasn't posted on X since August 2023, when he proudly uploaded his Georgia mug shot, and wrote, "Never surrender" ... raising millions for his campaign, in the process.

George Floyd’s ex, Roxie Washington, is backing Kamala Harris’ VP pick, telling TMZ ... she's not buying the backlash against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for the 2020 BLM riots over George's murder.

Roxie says she doesn't really get why there's so much hate against Walz regarding the civil unrest that erupted back then, because she doesn't get what he was supposed to do about it.

Instead, her anger's directed at Mayor Jacob Frey ... as she believes it was his job to protect the city.

Celine Dion's saying Donald Trump using her songs will not go on ... putting out a statement saying she didn't authorize Trump to use "My Heart Will Go On," -- and questioning his song selection.

The singer-songwriter's management company put out a statement just minutes ago ... saying they found out DJT and his running mate J.D. Vance played a clip of Celine singing the "Titanic" theme at their Montana rally.

They're making it clear ... Celine didn't give them permission to play it, and she's not endorsing political candidates to use her song.