Politics

Longtime Pennsylvania state representative Anthony "Tony" DeLuca won in an Election Day landslide -- which has to sting for his opponent, because DeLuca's no longer living.

The late state rep. received 85% of the votes in Wednesday's midterm election -- despite dying in October from a battle with lymphoma.

The timing of DeLuca's death reportedly made it too late to pick a different Democrat candidate, or to reprint updated ballots.

The Pennsylvania House Democratic campaign committee addressed the issue online Tuesday evening -- saying a special election will come soon to fix the error -- but also thanked supporters, presumably for voting him in posthumously.

King Charles loses his cool over bleeding pens, but keeps his head up when it comes to protesters ... armed with eggs!

The King and Queen Consort Camilla were out Wednesday in the city of York (the old one), and about to enter a historic gateway when the sticky biz went down.

A guy in the middle of the gathered crowd reportedly yelled out, "This country was built on the blood of slaves," and unloaded several eggs in the direction of KC3 and Cami.

The good news for the King is this guy has bad aim -- not a single yolk landed on the monarch or his wife -- but cops, and apparently a couple of citizens, immediately took down the protester.

You could hear a lot of "God save the King" and "hip, hip hooray" during the arrest -- and we gotta say, Charles at least looked calm and collected through the whole thing.

As for the protester ... the 23-year-old was reportedly arrested on suspicion of public order offence (they spell weird over there).

Herschel Walker sees his race for the U.S. Senate ending like a Talladega night -- and it just might -- but right now it's way too close to tell who's first or who's last.

The ex-football great opted for a NASCAR metaphor late Tuesday night as election results were still trickling in ... he told supporters in the critical Georgia race he's feeling like Will Ferrell's character in 'Talladega Nights' -- "I'm like Ricky Bobby. I don't come to lose."

As of Wednesday morning, though, Herschel and incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock are in a virtual tie, with neither candidate holding 50 percent of the votes -- and that would mean the race goes into overtime, if you will.

Walker had trailed for a majority of the evening, but as the night went on ... he began to pull within a point or so of Warnock -- and at varying moments, was even ahead for a bit.

He confidently said he'll eventually be "the new Senator for the great state of Georgia" ... but it hasn't happened yet.

Nearly the entire state has reported their tallies, and election officials estimate this is going to slip into a run-off race on Dec. 6.

WNBA star Brittney Griner is transferring to a Russian penal colony -- known for its terrible living conditions -- and her team has no idea where exactly she is or how she's doing.

BG's move from the detention center in Iksha began on Friday ... which happened to be one day after she met with U.S. embassy officials.

It's something Griner's family and team have feared ever since her conviction in August ... as a penal colony is far worse than a detention center. Prisoners are forced to perform labor, and it's much more difficult to make contact to the outside world.

Griner's team was not made aware of the update until Tuesday ... and her current location is unclear. Her legal team says it may take up to two weeks to be notified of her destination.

Lindsay Colas, Griner's agent, released a statement saying the number one concern is her client's health and well-being.

Colas says Griner's camp continues to work with the U.S. government in an effort to bring her home and keep her safe in the meantime.

"We are thankful for everyone's support, and hope that as we near nine months of detention, that BG and all wrongfully detained Americans will be shown mercy and returned home to their families for the holidays," Colas said.

The White House also released a statement ... slamming the move.

"Every minute that Brittney Griner must endure wrongful detention in Russia is a minute too long," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

"As the Administration continues to work tirelessly to secure her release, the President has directed the Administration to prevail on her Russian captors to improve her treatment and the conditions she may be forced to endure in a penal colony."

Griner has been in custody in Russia since February ... after she was accused of bringing hashish oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport.

She pleaded guilty to drug charges in July ... and was sentenced to 9 years in prison.

Griner spent her 32nd birthday behind bars last month ... and her appeal was denied on October 25.

Nancy Pelosi is going after Elon Musk for using his newly-purchased social media platform to push conspiracies about the Paul Pelosi attack ... calling the new Twitter owner destructive.

The Speaker of The House sat down for an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, and she laid into Elon and former President Donald Trump when Anderson asked her about influential folks spreading misinformation about the attack on her husband.

Nancy referenced the incendiary tweet Elon posted and deleted ... the one where Elon alleged there may be more to the story than meets the eye, adding a link to a fringe site with a salacious headline about Paul and his attacker.

She told Anderson it's "really sad for the country" to see people with large platforms -- like Musk and Trump -- "separate themselves from the facts and the truth in such a blatant way."

CNN aired the interview Monday night, on the eve of an election where folks are concerned about misinformation influencing the results at the ballot box.

Nancy says Elon's behavior is "destructive" to the unity she thinks is happening in the country ... but she says there's nothing she would like to personally say to Musk or Trump, because there's "no common ground" between them.

Speaker Pelosi also gave an update on Paul's recovery after being attacked by a hammer-wielding man who broke into their San Francisco home looking for Nancy and wanting to break her kneecaps ... getting super emotional as she recalled how she first heard about the attack.

The race for Mayor of Los Angeles will come to a close on Election Day Tuesday ... and lots of stars are sharing their endorsements in hopes they'll push their favorite candidate over the finish line with a victory.

Since the primaries wrapped up back in June, it's all come down to Rep. Karen Bass and Rick Caruso ... and while Bass seems to be feelin' the love in terms of cash support, Caruso has secured a ton of A-list celebrity shout-outs.

Since June, Bass' campaign has gotten donations from Ken Jeong, Natalie Portman, "Criminal Minds" star Kirsten Vangsness, and Dan Castellaneta -- the voice of Homer Simpson -- all at $1,500 each -- the maximum donation allowed.

Jane Fonda also chipped in $1,200 to Bass -- Kerry Washington and "Grey's Anatomy"s James Pickens Jr. each sent in $1K, while Chris Colfer from "Glee" and WeHo's Laugh Factory pitched in $500.

As for team Caruso, Paris Hilton's father and Kathy's husband, Rick, donated $1,500 -- as did a bunch of Hollywood execs from Warner Bros. - Discovery, Sony Music, Universal and more.

Caruso got a big celebrity endorsement Sunday from Chris Pratt ... calling him "the guy for our city."

As we reported, a slew of celebs shelled out for both Bass and Caruso during the primaries over the summer, with Tiffany Haddish, John Legend, Steven Spielberg, Jennifer Aniston, and Samuel L. Jackson being a few that went team Bass ... while Kim Kardashian, Katy Perry, Elon Musk, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Snoop Dogg went with Caruso -- just to name a few.

Ted Cruz is back in Texas, but he's still hearing boos -- the senator just got an earful of jeers from fans in Houston while he was riding in the Astros' World Series parade.

Cruz was on a military jeep as part of the celebration for the best team in baseball ... and cameras caught fans laying into him as his ride made its way through the streets.

People booed loudly ... and, according to Astros reporter Ben DuBose, some even flipped the lawmaker the bird.

Of course, this is far from the first time Cruz has heard the heckling ... in fact, just two weeks ago, fans at Yankee Stadium tore into him during NY's ALCS game against the 'Stros.

Cruz, who was reppin' Houston with an orange shirt and a blue vest, got booed loudly, with one man even calling him a "racist piece of s***."

Cruz appears to have gotten the last laugh on everyone, though -- his beloved Astros closed out the Yankees that night, and then went on to beat the Phillies, 4-2, in the W.S. this weekend.

As for the rest of the parade, the guys all seem to be having a blast celebrating their second title in six seasons.

Elon Musk is postponing his plan to charge Twitter users a $7.99 monthly subscription fee -- just one day after announcing the move ... and it's all because of the midterms.

Citing an internal Twitter memo, the New York Times reported Musk was putting his policy on hold -- for now -- over concerns his verification service would cause the spread of fake news across his social media platform, potentially influencing voters during the midterms.

Twitter employees had made a stink about it, insisting anyone could pay for the blue check subscription fee and create accounts posing as President Biden, members of Congress or news organizations. Scammers could then unleash false information about voting results on the verified accounts, causing distrust among citizens ahead of Tuesday's election.

Over the weekend, Musk introduced his "Twitter Blue" subscription fee to verified users and tried to appeal to other people using a celebrity sales pitch. He promised all subscribers would get a blue checkmark "just like the celebrities." He also mentioned ideas to cut ads and allow for extended videos to be posted on the social media network.

One Twitter worker -- using the internal Slack channel to communicate with fellow employees -- questioned why the company was "making such a risky change before elections, which has the potential of causing election interference."

Twitter management buckled under pressure and decided to kick the subscription fee release date to November 9, one day after the election.

Kid Rock is not biting his tongue when it comes to Oprah Winfrey's political views ... blasting the talk show host for her latest endorsement in the Pennsylvania senate race.

The rapper fired off a tweet Saturday, calling Oprah a "fraud" for supporting Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman instead of his Republican opponent Dr. Mehmet Oz. KR seemed pissed because Oprah turned her back on Oz -- a longtime friend -- for political reasons.

KR wrote, "Oprah helped Dr. Oz with his career. I assume because she vetted him and found him to be a wonderful person. Now she is against him. Oprah is a fraud. -Kid Rock." No secret whose corner KR is in.

Last Thursday, Oprah announced she was supporting Fetterman -- despite him suffering a debilitating stroke in May -- during a virtual voting town hall. "I said it was up to the citizens of Pennsylvania, but I would tell y’all this — if I lived in Pennsylvania, I would have already cast my vote for John Fetterman for many reasons,” she said.

It's interesting ... Dr. Oz rose to fame as a health expert on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." His own talk show launched in 2009 was produced by Oprah's production company Harpo. Oz's show ended in January this year as he prepared to make his senate run.

Democracy is on the ballot next week, and it's going to lose ... so says Bill Maher, in a get-real moment for a sinking institution called the United States government.

The "Real Time" host cut to the chase Friday night, saying all the handwringing about the importance of voting rings hollow, because a slew of election deniers are going to be elected -- like it or not -- and they're going to set the table for what's to come, which is the unraveling of democracy.

Bill waves the white flag over democratic rule, saying Biden will not be a lame duck, he'll be a "crippled duck" when he goes against the Donald Trump/Kari Lake ticket in 2024. As for Biden's chances ... Bill says zilch. Even if he wins the vote, it won't matter because the secretaries of state and other government officials will see to it that actual votes don't really matter.

As for trying to change people's minds so they reject Trump and other like-minded politicians, Maher says HA!  He points to the January 6th Committee, which Rep. Jamie Raskin said would expose Trump for who he is ... well, apparently that happened and people liked what they saw, because Trump's approval rating went up.

As Bill said, politicians become dictators not with weapons but by elections ... Hitler, Mussolini, Putin -- they assume power and never let go.

Not a great scenario, but Bill seems to be saying the light of democracy is dimming and will soon be snuffed out ... partly because lots of us never bothered to learn or truly care about the elements of democracy that made this the greatest country on Earth.

The Phillies let down the FLOTUS in a big way on Wednesday night ... not only losing to the Astros in front of Jill Biden -- but doing so in a historically awful fashion.

Biden hit Citizens Bank Park full of hope for the World Series' Game 4 ... but it didn't take long for her beloved Philly squad to disappoint.

In nine innings, the team didn't record a hit -- marking only the second time EVER that a squad has gone hitless in a Fall Classic game. Philadelphia ended up losing, 5-0.

To her credit, though, Jill -- who's consistently professed her love for Philly sports over the years -- didn't let the lackluster performance ruin her day at the ballpark. She appeared to be in good spirits throughout the evening, and participated in the game's moving Stand Up To Cancer moments of silence.

Bruce Springsteen and Miles Teller, meanwhile, were also in attendance to watch Philadelphia's flop ... with the two catching up for a few seconds before ultimately seeing Houston tie up the series, 2-2.

But, the Phillies are at least not done yet ... there's still three games left to go before it's all over.

Elon Musk got into a big 'ol Twitter fight with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, trading jabs over the billionaire's intent to charge verified users a fee to maintain their status on the social media platform.

Musk -- Twitter's new owner -- announced this week he would implement a policy charging an $8 monthly fee for users to keep their blue check badges to prove their accounts are authentic. He originally set the price at $20, but then lowered it. It's unclear when he plans to make the $8 fee official.

This didn't sit well with many critics and AOC, who sent out a flurry of Tweets Tuesday/Wednesday, giving Musk a piece of her mind.

"Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that 'free speech' is actually a $8/mo subscription plan," the New York congresswoman tweeted.

AOC followed up with another zinger ... "One guy's business plan for a $44 billion over-leveraged purchase is apparently to run around and individually ask people for $8. Remember that next time you question yourself or your qualifications."

She even complained that her Twitter notifications weren't working properly.

Musk then got into it with her. The Tesla/SpaceX boss tweeted a photo of an AOC sweatshirt selling on her website for $58, seemingly defending his $8 subscription fee by showing she, too, is trying to monetize her business.

But, the Democratic lawmaker wasn't having it, tweeting ... "My workers are union, make a living wage, have full healthcare, and aren’t subject to racist treatment in their workplaces. Items are made in USA."

Musk fired back ... "Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8." AOC landed the last punch, though, declaring she had "gotten under a certain billionaire's skin" next to a laughing emoji.

The U.S. Capitol Police were apparently asleep at the wheel in monitoring security cameras at Paul and Nancy Pelosi's family home in San Francisco during the savage home invasion that nearly killed her husband ... this according to a new report.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday D.C.-based Capitol Police officers in a command center failed to see live images of David DePape allegedly smashing his way inside the Pelosi townhouse 3,000 miles away. The command center has 1,800 cameras watching the Capitol Complex and areas beyond, including the Pelosi townhouse.

Shortly after the break-in, one of the Capitol officers noticed on the security cameras police lights flashing outside the Pelosi residence.

The officer went back and reviewed footage from minutes before, spotting DePape smashing the glass panel with the hammer before entering the Speaker’s home, according to WaPo.

The reported security lapse comes as DePape was arraigned Tuesday on charges of attempted murder and several other felonies. DePape has also been charged federally with attempted kidnapping of a government official (Nancy Pelosi).

As we reported, DePape told the FBI that he planned to shatter Nancy Pelosi's kneecaps because he saw her as a liar. He allegedly brought zip ties, tape and rope with him to apparently tie her up. The Speaker was safe in D.C. at the time of the attack.

But her husband, Paul, was asleep in bed when DePape broke in. Paul was able to make a surreptitious phone call to 911 and speak in code, alerting the operator that something was wrong.

The operator quickly dispatched police, who arrived at the Pelosi residence within minutes. In front of the officers, DePape allegedly clubbed Paul in the head with the hammer, fracturing his skull. Police tackled DePape and took him into custody. DePape is currently being held without bail.

Twitter is now on a rollercoaster ride, courtesy of its new owner Elon Musk ... and technology columnist Kevin Roose says the ride could lead to a whole new app within a matter of days.

Kevin joined "TMZ Live" to forecast the bird app's future on the heels of a wild weekend brought on by Musk himself -- his retweeting an unsubstantiated Paul Pelosi conspiracy theory is raising major concerns about how much misinformation he's going to allow.

Political consequences aside, Roose says there could be a lot of financial fallout from Elon's early moves.

He believes Elon's Pelosi tweet signals there will be a constant tug-of-war between Twitter being a free speech forum ... and one that regulates misinformation and hate speech -- and that battle will impact advertising revenue.

Kevin notes ... advertisers generally don't love placement next to toxic content, and after dropping $44 billion for the platform, Elon needs it thrive as a biz.

As for Twitter's employees ... Kevin says big-time layoffs are expected this week, and Elon's already booted all of Twitter's previous executives and board members.

The man that broke into Nancy Pelosi's home and attacked her husband Paul is now facing criminal charges ... after telling police he was there to break her kneecaps ... this according to the newly filed criminal complaint.

Charges were filed Monday against 42-year-old David DePape ... and according to court docs, he was attempting to kidnap the House Speaker -- bringing zip ties, tape and rope with him to their San Francisco home.

When DePape arrived, the docs say he asked Paul to see his wife, but was informed she wasn't there ... DePape then said he'd sit and wait for her.

He allegedly said he was going to hold her hostage and talk to her -- claiming in a police interview if she was honest with him, he'd let her go ... but if she lied, he'd break her kneecaps.

He told authorities, by breaking the Speaker's kneecaps, she'd have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other members there were "consequences to actions."

DePape now faces 2 charges ... assaulting an immediate family member of a U.S. official, and attempted kidnapping of a U.S. Official. San Francisco prosecutors will reportedly also charge DePape in the next few days, and authorities have talked about attempted murder, as well as other charges.

As we reported, Paul was violently attacked inside his SF home last week ... after DePape forced his way inside through a back door.

Elon Musk used his new social media platform to perpetuate an unfounded conspiracy theory about the Paul Pelosi attack -- and he did it in response to Hillary Clinton, no less.

The Twitter chief replied to a tweet HC sent Saturday that condemned the attack on the Speaker's husband, while also calling out the extreme rhetoric of some Republicans and pundits ... which she believes is largely responsible for the incident.

Elon chimed in Sunday, saying there may be more to the story than meets the eye ... adding a link to a fringe site that uploaded a salacious article/headline regarding Pelosi and his attacker. It's based on a conspiracy theory that's caught fire in conservative circles.

The theory -- and the unsubstantiated article -- claims Paul's attacker was no stranger ... but rather, that they had a prior relationship and that things went south during a meetup. Again, there's been no evidence to support this claim whatsoever ... and yet, Elon leaned into it.

He has since deleted the incendiary tweet ... but the damage is done, because he's getting slammed left and right for putting out wild rumors -- this as the literal executive of Twitter.

One of the people who are tearing him to shreds over this is Jimmy Kimmel ... who wrote, "it has been interesting, over the years, to watch you blossom from the electric car guy into a fully-formed piece of s*** @elonmusk."

It's worth noting, for the record, that SFPD has characterized this as nothing more than a break-in/assault on Pelosi -- and they even say they witnessed the attacker, David DePape, strike Paul on the head with a hammer before they tackled and arrested him.

As we reported ... Paul made a secret call to 911 while facing off with DePape and spoke in code to the operator to not agitate the guy, while also relaying he was in danger. DePape allegedly asked "Where's Nancy?" several times ... but she wasn't home at the time.

A new report Sunday claims that DePape was also equipped with a bag of zip ties -- so who knows what more could've happened if Paul hadn't alerted the authorities when he did.

Speaker Pelosi, for her part, says her husband is recovering after undergoing surgery ... while also noting she and the rest of their family are traumatized. Reports have surfaced since saying DePape has shared far-right, bigoted conspiracies on his blog ... right up to the attack.