Politics

Governor Ron DeSantis just announced his run for President on Twitter ... but not without massive technical failure as Elon Musk says the company's servers are to blame.

DeSantis made the big announcement Wednesday on the bird app ... dropping a campaign video that takes jabs at President Biden, blaming him for crime-filled streets and conflict at the border. He goes on to say he's the guy to lead the "great American comeback."

Of course, DeSantis was slated to drop the big news in a Twitter Spaces chat with Elon ... but apparent technical issues forced hundreds of thousands of listeners to listen as moderator David Sacks' audio kept cutting in and out.

Elon can be heard saying Twitter's servers are struggling to keep up -- and folks on the very same app are dragging him and the whole thing for the big mess ... with one calling it a "car crash," while another calling DeSantis' failed attempt "a perfect metaphor."

Even Biden took a jab at the whole thing -- with a tweet to his donation page that reads, "This link works."

You'll recall, TMZ confirmed Elon was set to join DeSantis for the declaration -- something that appears to be a push to make the app feel more like regular TV. Elon also called on ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon to start a show on his platform after Tucker Carlson said he'd be doing the same. Obviously, this mess might make Elon reconsider.

As for DeSantis, he's been seen as one of the only candidates that stands a chance at knocking down former President Donald Trump -- who announced his bid for the 2024 seat back in November.

DeSantis picking Twitter for his announcement spot doesn't just set him apart from the rest of his competition, but it appears to be a big "F-U" to Trump ... who infamously was taken off the platform after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Jeremy Corbell believes the U.S. military is covering up evidence of an eerie UFO sighting over a Marine base in the California desert.

The UFO expert and filmmaker joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live," to dig deeper into the bombshell footage he released this week showing a huge triangular-formation of lights hovering over the Camp Davis in Twentynine Palms, CA.

Jeremy says the Marines he's talked to all told him they could see the shape of an aircraft in the night sky ... and he says the fact the sighting happened over a Marine base means the government is sitting on tons of data that might reveal what was up there.

While skeptics were quick to dismiss the footage as flares, Jeremy says that's just not the case -- he says the Marines fired flares at the UFO to illuminate the craft, but when the flares got close, the UFO vanished into thin air.

Jeremy says there were at least 50 witnesses, mostly Marines ... but he's hoping other folks who were out in that part of the California desert that April night in 2021 will come forward with their own footage.

A school in Florida has put the kibosh on its younger students reading Amanda Gorman's powerful poem -- the one she read at President Joe Biden's inauguration -- after one parent claimed it was riddled with hate ... also claiming it was penned by Oprah.

The Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes imposed the prohibition on Gorman's "The Hill We Climb," making it available only to middle schoolers at the K-8 school.

Daily Salinas, the complaining parent, filed a complaint in March, claiming the poem could cause "confusion and indoctrinate students" with "hate messages" ... adding a specious claim Oprah was the writer and not Gorman.

After learning about the ban, the 25-year-old poet took to social media to call out Salinas ... saying, “So they ban my book from young readers… fail to specify what parts of my poetry they object to, refuse to read any reviews, and offer no alternatives." She says she's "gutted" that it takes only 1 complaint to get works of art removed.

Gorman now says publisher Penguin Random House is teaming up with PEN America -- an org that defends free expression through literature -- to fight back against book bans with a lawsuit.

Claudia Conway -- daughter of Kellyanne Conway -- is taking up a new trade ... launching a career as an online Playboy model.

The famous brand made the announcement Wednesday from its official IG account with a photo of Claudia ... captioned, "Introducing your newest Bunny: @claudiamconway 🐰 See her exclusive content, only on @PlayboyCenterfold Subscribe at the link in stories..."

The DailyMail first reported ... 18-year-old daughter of Donald Trump's former advisor reportedly launched her account back in April, and so far, she's posted several photos posing in bikinis. Folks can also buy more risque online photos, like cleavage close-ups, with prices ranging from $5 to $99.

Claudia, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, gained popularity from her TikToks and her tumultuous relationship with her mother.

The two have gotten into several on-camera spats, and Claudia has had no problem airing it all out online.

As we told you, the mother-daughter duo has since been working on their relationship, and seem to be in a much better place now.

You'll recall, she auditioned for "American Idol" back in 2021 and shocked a ton of fans with her vocals, despite eventually getting eliminated.

Ron DeSantis is making his presidential run official with the help of Elon Musk, jumping on the bird app with its owner to make the big announcement -- something the tech mogul is, no doubt, seeing as a MAJOR win.

TMZ has confirmed ... the current Florida Governor will join Elon in a Twitter spaces chat Wednesday to announce he is, indeed, throwing his hat in the 2024 presidential race.

Tech entrepreneur David Sacks will moderate the meeting, and DeSantis will drop his first campaign video around the same time.

As you know, Elon's been pushing to get Twitter to become more like mainstream TV ... after ex-FOX News host Tucker Carlson took to the platform earlier this month to say he'd be launching a "new version" of his show on Twitter ... which Elon quickly embraced.

Following Tucker's announcement, Elon called out Don Lemon -- who's also out of a gig -- to have him come over to the same app and start his own show ... digging at CNN's ratings by adding, "Maybe worth a try. Audience is much bigger."

Looks like Elon's tryin' hard to get as many eyes on his platform as possible, and if recent history is any indication ... politics is the perfect way to do that.

The White House almost got an unwanted visitor Monday night ... a U-Haul driver carrying a Nazi flag careened into security barriers right across the street from where President Joe Biden sleeps.

Secret Service rep Anthony Guglielmi tweeted ... the truck driver crashed into a barricade in Lafayette Square around 10 PM ... but, according to a witness who spoke to CBS, the suspect was actually aiming for the White House a stone's throw away.

Guglielmi said no one was injured and the cause of the accident was under investigation, but he suggested the driver might have intentionally rammed the barriers.

Police rapidly descended on the scene and arrested the driver, who had the Nazi flag on him. Law enforcement sources told CBS the man is an American citizen who made threats against President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The suspect -- whose name was not disclosed -- had no guns, knives or explosives.

Police sources also told CBS ... the man was not on any FBI watch lists and did not appear to have a significant rap sheet.

Federal authorities charged the man with assault with a dangerous weapon (the truck), reckless operation of a motor vehicle, a threaten to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on a president, vice president or family member and destruction of federal property and trespassing.

An AI-generated image of a fake explosion outside the Pentagon stoked panic and sent stocks tumbling as the hoax spread on social media.

The fake image behind Monday's chaos shows smoke billowing from the grounds outside the Pentagon ... with the image spreading like wildfire online after being shared by tons of accounts, including a Russian state media outlet.

The AI-generated work was often posted with false accounts of an explosion happening at the Pentagon ... causing a panic and a stock selloff that saw the S&P 500 drop by 30 points.

The Arlington County Fire Department put out the fire by debunking the image as a hoax.

While some were fooled by the fake Pentagon photo, some weren't so easily duped ... with eagle-eyed accounts pointing out obvious flaws with the AI-generated image, mainly focusing on warped sections of the Pentagon fence.

Calls for more guard rails on AI are now getting stronger ... as debate about the future of AI rages on Capitol Hill.

A transgender girl ended up missing her own high school graduation after the school told her to wear a suit like the guys getting their diplomas, and a judge refused to stop the school from forcing her to do so.

According to the ACLU of Mississippi, 17-year-old "L.B." was ordered by Harrison Central High School earlier this month to follow the boys' dress code for Saturday's graduation ceremony -- which included wearing "pants, socks, and shoes, like a boy.”

L.B. had already purchased a dress and heels to wear under her cap and gown ... and the ACLU ended up filing a lawsuit against the district on behalf of L.B. and her family.

However, a U.S. district judge reportedly denied the emergency plea, upholding the school's stance. Multiple reports say she ended up missing the ceremony as a result.

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson works in a building that is kind of an island to itself, but unlike her favorite show, no one gets voted off.

The newest Justice shared her jam during a commencement address to graduating law students at American University in D.C.

She confessed she's a "Survivor superfan," using the long-running show to deliver her message. Justice Jackson talked about the goal of setting priorities and using resources, however scant, to chart your path.

Jackson told the crowd, "I watch it with my husband and my daughters even now, which I will admit it's not easy to do with the demands of my day job. But you have to set priorities, people, and that's exactly the first lesson that I have for you today."

The Justice has watched since Season 2, and had another good takeaway ... "Season after season, the players who tend to do really well are those who appear to come in with the understanding that this game is about existing both in community and conflict."

Rick Ross is going toe-to-toe with Fayette County over his 2nd annual car show ... telling us denying him a permit isn't gonna stop him from throwing the event for thousands of fans.

The hip hop mogul assures us the car show will go down exactly as planned on June 3 on his Promised Land estate in Fayetteville, GA, and he's called in backup -- some event planning experts -- to ensure his neighbors can rest easy.

Fayette County recently rejected Ricky Rozay's permit, saying the car show is not in compliance with the county's zoning ordinances, adding last year's show -- a huge success in Rick's eyes -- happened without County approval.

Regardless, Rick's full steam ahead, and is likening the whole thing to a front yard BBQ -- one with about 7,000 folks in attendance! He says he didn't hear any complaints after last year's show, but some neighbors have now been voicing their concerns.

If you're wondering if this is all about the County wanting a slice of Rick's financial pie ... he ran down all the ways his car show is an absolute cash cow for Fayette County and its businesses.

BTW, Rick announced he's exploring a run for mayor of Fayetteville after the whole permit roadblock came up, and he breaks down why he'd be the perfect candidate.

Artificial Intelligence poses some serious risks and could potentially threaten the very fabric of our democracy ... so says AI expert Gary Marcus, who is urging Congress to implement strong guard rails.

Gary joined us on "TMZ Live," a day after he testified before Congress ... warning about the future of AI machines and urging them to take local, national, and global measures.

Having worked extensively with AI, he feels morally responsible for warning the public about the risks ... and there are plenty. He agreed some genies are already out of the bottle -- all the more reason to slow the technology with regulations.

Gary says that while some large language models are here to stay, chatbots pose a serious threat. He emphasizes that this technology has the power to influence ways of thinking and manipulate users ... and that boils over to the political realm and threatens our democracy.

Remember, even former President Trump shared a doctored Anderson Cooper clip from the CNN town hall. That one wasn't AI, but it makes you wonder how much worse it could be if someone used AI to distribute misinformation. Of course, some of this tech has already infiltrated the music industry.

Senator Dianne Feinstein raised new alarm bells about her ability to serve in Congress, after she seemed to forget she's been MIA for 3 months.

An L.A. Times reporter buttonholed the 89-year-old Feinstein -- who just returned to D.C. after spending 3 months in California recuperating from shingles -- and asked her if she heard all the well wishes from her fellow Senators upon returning to work. Her response ... "What have I heard about what?" The reporter said, "About your return," to which Feinstein said, "I haven't been gone ... I've been working."

The reporter pressed ... "You've been working from home is what you're saying?" The frail Senator replied, "I've been here. I've been voting. Please, either know or don't know."

Her hometown newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, detailed last year what they say is her deteriorating memory, and the latest encounter is yet another example. There has been open talk on Capitol Hill that she is often disoriented and can't follow conversations.

There has also been a gentle campaign among lawmakers for her to resign, and even some Democrats are on board. Fact is ... Feinstein is on the Judiciary Committee, and a number of nominations for the federal bench have been held up due to her absences.

Feinstein said last week, "Even though I’ve made significant progress and was able to return to Washington, I’m still experiencing some side effects from the shingles virus."

Meghan Markle received her own coronation of sorts Tuesday night in NYC.

The Duchess of Sussex and hubby Prince Harry flew to the Big Apple to attend a fancy-schmancy gala honoring Meghan with a Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Award from her friend and political activist Gloria Steinem.

It was Meghan's first public appearance since she skipped the coronation of her father-in-law, King Charles, and his wife, Queen Camilla, earlier this month in London.

As you know, Harry went solo to the coronation and had an awkward time with his royal family given all of their drama. Since then, Harry and Meghan have kept a low profile only being seen -- briefly we might add -- leaving a sushi restaurant in Montecito.

But now they've come out of their shell. Check out video of Meghan and Harry arriving in an SUV to the awards ceremony at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan. As shutterbugs snapped photos, Harry jumped out of the backseat followed by Meghan, who looked stunning in a Johanna Ortiz gold dress. Meghan's mom, Doria, also tagged along.

After the three went inside, Meghan hit the stage and accepted the award from Steinem for her advocacy work to empower women. She delivered a speech, giving a shout-out to her mom and thanking Steinem for being a mentor. She also talked about the impact "Ms." magazine had on her life growing up.

Harry and Meghan then left exactly how they came in -- surrounded by paparazzi and flashing cameras. The couple jumped into the back of an SUV, which then drove off.

Brett Favre is speaking out after months of silence ... and while he only briefly addressed the Mississippi welfare scandal, the Hall of Famer talked politics, flat out saying the U.S. was better off under President Trump.

"I think Donald was a non-political president, and I liked that about him," Favre told Jason Whitlock in a lengthy conversation Tuesday on the TV personality's "Fearless" podcast. "Was he perfect? Absolutely not. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. I'm flawed just like the rest of 'em. We're all flawed. But, I really felt like he had our country in a better place and really cared about our people in our country."

"Black, white, Hispanic, Asian -- you name it," the former Packers quarterback continued. "I think if you were an American citizen, he cared about you, first and foremost. I don't know if our current president has the same mentality."

It's no secret the NFL legend is a supporter of #45 ... something Brett told Jason has seriously hurt his checkbook.

"It's cost me money," Favre admitted.

The former Green Bay signal-caller also talked about one of the most polarizing issues in the country, transgender people ... a topic which Favre feels strongly about.

During the chat with Whitlock, he said, "To think that a young man who identifies as a girl, I don't understand -- just hear me out -- can go into a girl's bathroom and use the restroom with girls, and for us to think that's OK, I think is wrong. I'm sorry."

He went on to agree with Whitlock's opinion that transgender women shouldn't be allowed to compete against biological females in sporting events.

As for his alleged role in the Mississippi welfare scandal -- where he's been accused of working with government officials to obtain $5 million from welfare funds to build a volleyball facility at Southern Miss. -- Favre said he couldn't speak much about it due to a gag order.

He did say, though, he's looking forward to openly speaking about it all soon.

Rep. Lauren Boebert is pulling the plug on over 15 years of marriage, filing to divorce her now-estranged husband, Jayson.

According to a statement, Boebert says she filed in Mesa County, CO and says, "It is with a heavy weight on my heart that I have filed for divorce from my husband. I am grateful for our years of marriage together and for our beautiful children, all of whom deserve privacy and love as we work through this process."

She continued, "I've always been faithful in my marriage, and I believe strongly in marriage, which makes this announcement that much more difficult. This is truly about irreconcilable differences. I do not intend to discuss this matter any further in public out of respect for our children and will continue to work hard to represent the people of Colorado's 3rd Congressional District."

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ ... Jayson chased away a process server last month who tried to hand him the divorce papers, and he reportedly shouted profanities at the process server while cleaning a gun and drinking a beer.

Lauren and Jayson got married back in 2006, having their first kid when she was 18. She said in her book, "My American Life," they wanted to tie the knot when she was only 16, just 4 months after they met.

She said they even drove to a Las Vegas wedding chapel to get it done, but were turned away due to the minimum age requirement being 17.

The Walgreens security guard who fatally shot a shopfitter in San Francisco used unnecessary aggression, and it was not a clear case of self-defense ... so says a former prosecutor who's challenging the D.A.'s theory.

Attorney Tony Brass joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday shortly after San Fran's District Attorney Brooke Jenkins released the footage of the April 27 shooting to show why she was not charging security guard Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony for killing Banko Brown.

Tony says, on a human level, it is super clear the security guard used a high level of aggression when he confronted Brown, which he finds absurd considering it was a shoplifting case "at best" ... and not an imminent danger.

On top of that, Tony says he's super shocked the D.A.'s already decided it was self-defense and there should be no charges. From his perspective, Anthony should've just let the guy go when he tried to leave ... and the gun was not necessary at all.

As we reported, Jenkins shared the footage Monday of the violent encounter ... that ended with Anthony gunning down Brown as he fled the store with a bag of allegedly stolen items.

Tony also points out the election of Jenkins as D.A. was a direct response to the former D.A. Chesa Boudin, who helped build San Francisco's "soft on crime" rep.