Politics

Bad Bunny has some powerful politicians in his corner as he continues to celebrate the launch of his new album ... rubbing shoulders with the likes of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Nydia Velazquez.

Check it out ... the Puerto Rican performer was cheered on by AOC and several others as he brought a parranda to a local hotspot, Toñita's, in Brooklyn Sunday evening.

Bad Bunny danced and mingled with the local Brooklynites at the club, with the U.S. Congresswoman from New York mere feet away doing the exact same ... proving it was all one hell of a party.

California Governor Gavin Newsom just called out Elon Musk, accusing him of exposing his own lies about a water shortage amid the L.A. wildfires -- saying it all went down during Elon's own live-streamed briefing with a fire command member.

Musk initially went off on X, blaming the massive loss of homes in the L.A. wildfires on "bad governance at a state and local level that resulted in a shortage of water." But, Newsom shared a clip of Musk talking to a firefighter, captioning it, "@ElonMusk exposed by firefighters for his own lies."

Newsom's clip shows Musk asking a firefighter, "What about water availability, was water availability -- I understand that was not an issue in Malibu, is that correct?"

Two of California's top politicians are in the crosshairs of recall petitions ... but, while one is gaining quite a bit of steam, the other is struggling out of the starting blocks.

In the wake of the devastating wildfires burning huge swaths of California, two petitions have been started calling for the removal of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

The petition to recall Governor Newsom is newer than the one to nix Bass ... and, quite frankly it's having trouble gaining serious traction. It was started yesterday -- and, so far, it's only gained about 27K signatures.

Khloé Kardashian is getting attacked for slamming L.A. city's Mayor for allegedly compromising the fire department's ability to fight fires ... when she herself was a water hog.

There was a torrent of criticism on social media, calling Khloé a hypocrite for talking the talk and not walking the walk.

Khloé went off on L.A. Mayor Karen Bass after the L.A. Fire Chief went on FOX 11 LA and claimed Bass did not adequately support their department by ordering budget cuts, among other things, and that compromised the department's abilities to fight the massive blazes that are torching L.A.

Two men were arrested for curfew violations within the Palisades Fire evacuation zone not far from Vice President Kamala Harris' Los Angeles property.

The LAPD says they responded to the VP's Brentwood neighborhood around 4:30 AM on Saturday. Two individuals were taken into custody for being in the area past the curfew set due to the ongoing wildfires.

Law enforcement sources told NBC4 there is no evidence the men ever entered the VP's property. The arrests come as heightened security measures are in place in the area due to the ongoing evacuation order zone for the Palisades Fire, which as of Saturday night has burned over 23,000 acres and was only 11% contained.

Yvette Nicole Brown and Kym Whitley are standing behind Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ... saying she's a woman of steel -- and, people are unfairly criticizing her because of her race.

We caught up with the two stars in L.A. Saturday ... and, we asked them about Mayor Bass' response to the devastating wildfires -- 'cause both of them ardently supported Bass' run for the job.

You've gotta watch the clip ... YNB and KW get pretty heated just thinking about all the criticism Karen's received in recent days.

Plenty of Angelenos are livid at Mayor Karen Bass right now in the midst of the deadly wildfires ravaging SoCal ... and Khloé Kardashian has made it clear she is among them!

Khloé called out the mayor on Friday night, after Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley did a stunning interview with FOX 11 in L.A. where she said the city (meaning Bass) failed her, essentially due to budget cuts ... calling the situation “no longer sustainable.”

Crowley groused the Mayor had called for massive budget cuts and she had pleaded more than a month ago for more money because there were firetrucks in such disrepair they couldn't go on the road, there were hydrants that needed fixing, etc, but it was met with deaf ears.

Mark Zuckerberg is claiming that the Biden administration called up his team, yelling and cursing at them, demanding they take down memes about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Meta CEO is spilling tea about Biden, saying Meta was pressured to censor certain posts ... telling Joe Rogan on his podcast, they even threatened his team with consequences if they didn't remove the posts.

Zuckerberg added, "Basically, it just got to this point where we were like no, we're not going to take down things that are true ... That's ridiculous."

The first convicted felon ever to be elected president was formally sentenced this morning ... after the Supreme Court shut down Donald Trump's final appeal Thursday night to have the judgment set aside.

Trump appeared remotely from Mar-a-Lago this morning to attend the Manhattan courthouse hearing, in which he was let off with an "unconditional discharge."

Judge Juan Merchan had already signaled Trump would not face prison, fines or probation ... deciding on unconditional discharge -- upholding the conviction, but with no penalties imposed, due to the president-elect's official status.

2:50 PM PT -- Newsom's office tells TMZ ... "After hearing from Rachel, the Governor immediately spoke to President Biden and as a result of that call the President committed to covering 100% of the recovery costs for the next 180 days. That’s a game-changer."

The Governor's rep also says they spoke to Rachel in order "to connect her with recovery services, local support, and provide the latest information."

They add, "This was not a normal blaze. When this fire began, firefighters were battling flames fueled by 100mph hurricane-force winds against them."

According to Newsom's office, local officials say "three million gallons of water (enough water to cover 2 football fields in a foot of water) were stored in three large tanks for fire hydrants before the Palisades fire, but the supply was exhausted because of the extreme scale of the fire and extraordinary nature of this hurricane-force firestorm."

CA Gov. Gavin Newsom tried to use President Biden as a shield when a distraught wildfire victim confronted him Thursday -- but his efforts kinda blew up in his face.

The woman, a lawyer named Rachel Darvish, ran up to Newsom as he was getting into his car -- leaving a devastated Pacific Palisades -- and started hammering him with questions about everything that went wrong for firefighters ... and a Sky News camera crew captured the intense showdown.

Darvish demanded answers about why there was no water pressure in fire hydrants to help firefighters knock down the flames -- Newsom quickly responded by holding up his phone and telling her he was talking to President Biden at that very moment about getting aid to victims.

President Jimmy Carter's missing out on some serious drama -- his funeral created a mini soap opera between President-elect Donald Trump, all his White House predecessors ... and his former VP Mike Pence.

You could feel the tension in the air as Trump strode into the National Cathedral Thursday morning in Washington, DC, because one of the first people he came face to face with was Pence -- ya know, the guy Trump's supporters targeted in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The former running mates kept it classy ... looking each other in the eyes, shaking hands and keeping it moving.

Hulk Hogan didn't exactly receive a warm welcome from the L.A. crowd during his surprise appearance at the Netflix premiere of 'Monday Night Raw' ... something Mark Henry says didn't shock him at all.

"With the social climate and the things [Hulk's] said and done and his lack of effort to try and fix it, people are gonna come down on it," Henry said ... referencing the unearthed 2006 clip where Hulk used a racial slur.

Hogan apologized after the video went viral in 2015, telling People ... "It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it.”

1:23 AM PT -- Newsom’s spokesperson Izzy Gardon tells TMZ … “There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction. The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”

President-elect Donald Trump is fanning the flames of divisiveness amid the massive wildfires burning across Los Angeles ... posting a scathing critique of California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Trump hopped on his Truth Social platform Wednesday and placed the blame for the raging brush fires squarely at the feet of Newsom, accusing him of choosing an endangered fish over badly needed water resources to fight fires.

Trump kicked off his tongue-lashing by yet again referring to the gov as "Newscum" ... before  claiming Gavin "refused" to sign a declaration allowing water from "the North" to flow into the areas "currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way." Trump said Newsom favored the Delta smelt fish over the people of California ... and that he would change all that once he takes office on January 20.

J.D. Vance and Ted Cruz have a lot more than bragging rights on the line when Ohio State and Texas face off in the College Football Playoff ... 'cause both politicians just placed a friendly wager on the Cotton Bowl -- with both hoping their team trumps the other.

The Texas senator laid out the challenge to the Vice President-Elect and Ohio native on Tuesday ... days before the Buckeyes and Longhorns duke it out at AT&T Stadium.

The terms were pretty simple -- the loser would have to deliver food and beer to the winner's front door, all while they rock the opposing team's jersey.

One supporter of President-elect Donald Trump got way too into the "MAGA" spirit while driving in the snow recently, resulting in a nasty car wreck -- which was documented on a live stream.

Check it out ... three Trump supporters were speeding down a snowy highway while blasting "M-A-G-A," a pro-Trump take on 45 (soon-to-be 47)'s favorite song, the Village People's "Y.M.C.A."

The Trumper and his 2 women passengers couldn't help but sing along and dance to the song as they live-streamed their journey.

The wife of a Texas man convicted and imprisoned for his role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots tells us she’s in touch with the Trump administration about his possible pardon -- and she’s confident he’ll be released.

Nicole Reffitt, wife of Guy Reffitt -- currently serving an 80-month sentence -- told "TMZ Live" Monday that while the incoming Trump administration hasn’t shared exact plans, she’s been told to stay ready for action when Trump steps into the Oval Office on day one, January 20.

You’ve gotta see the video -- Nicole’s confidence in her husband’s release is crystal clear, and she thinks pardoning him, or commuting his sentence, along with others hit with what she says are overblown charges could actually help unite the public.