Politix

Sen. Kamala Harris isn't taking the fly bait from Rachel Maddow ... refusing to talk about the one that camped out on Mike Pence's head for 2 minutes.

The Democratic Vice Presidential nominee tried her darnedest to avoid answering with any substance when the MSNBC host asked her if she noticed the fly on the Veep during last week's debate. Harris succeeded ... if you don't count chuckles as substantial.

Check out the video ... Maddow said she'd be remiss if she didn't ask about it, and the candidate immediately tried to take the high road, but ultimately couldn't contain her laughter. She eventually coughed up an answer, albeit a pretty funny one.

Maddow said everyone at home was staring at Pence's little partner ... which is why she wanted to get Kamala's perspective from the stage.

Get ready Greece ... Tommy Lee is moving in, IF President Trump is reelected next month -- but there's strong evidence it's an empty promise.

The Mötley Crüe drummer isn't mincing words when it comes to his feelings on the election, and told London magazine The Big Issue ... "Dude, I swear to god if that happens then I’m coming over to visit the UK. I’m out of here. I’ll go back to my motherland, go back to Greece and get a house on one of the islands."

If ya didn't know, Tommy was born in Greece. Anyway, he thinks our current POTUS is an embarrassment ... as he told the mag, "I feel like people in Europe and the rest of the world look at America and think: 'What the f*** are you guys doing over there? Stop voting for celebrities and get someone real to run the country.'"

If Tommy's threat to emigrate sounds familiar, it's because we heard it ad nauseam 4 years ago.

George Lopez said Trump won't have to worry about immigration because "We'll all go back." Lena Dunham said she'd move to Canada. Ditto for Snoop Dogg. Amy Schumer said she'd pack her bags for Spain. Hell, Cher said she'd move to Jupiter!!!

Of course, you know they're all still here Stateside. Not happily, but they're here.

Remember ... not long after Trump beat Hillary Clinton, WWE superstar Dave Bautista told TMZ Sports he and his family would pack their bags and head to Europe if Trump gets reelected.

President Trump's campaign is pumping "In the Air Tonight" at his Des Moines rally -- where few people are wearing face masks -- and it's in breathtakingly poor taste considering some grim COVID-19 facts.

The song choice comes as the coronavirus is ravaging the state. Iowa has the 4th highest COVID-19 infection rate in the U.S., 61 senior care facilities are reporting outbreaks and it saw 1,180 new cases ... just on Wednesday.

So, hearing the Phil Collins hit -- already an ominous-sounding song -- blaring over the crowd of Trump-supporting, mask-shunning Iowans feels disgustingly grim. CNN's Jim Acosta was doing a live shot from the event as the song played ... and it was surreal to see.

Let's not fool ourselves ... this is NO coincidence.

Trump and his campaign never miss a chance to jab at his haters with their music selections at his rallies. He's definitely heard all the criticism of him holding potential "super-spreader" rallies as COVID cases spike across most of the country.

A Trump surrogate is claiming Ice Cube joined forces with the President's campaign to help Black people -- something Cube is now addressing, and not entirely denying.

Cube was forced to respond Wednesday after the Internet went up in flames upon hearing he'd supposedly teamed up with the Trump administration to draft its Platinum Plan, to address issues in the Black community. The plan purportedly dovetails with Cube's own Contract with Black America.

He tweets, "Facts: I put out the CWBA. Both parties contacted me. Dems said we’ll address the CWBA after the election. Trump campaign made some adjustments to their plan after talking to us about the CWBA."

When someone accused him of going over to "the dark side," Cube fired back that all politicians are pretty much on the dark side when it comes to helping African-Americans ... which is his ultimate priority, regardless of who he needs to work with to achieve that.

All this hubbub started when senior Trump advisor Katrina Pierson tweeted what some considered fairly shocking news -- namely, that Cube had "stepped up" to work with the Trump administration to develop DT's "Platinum Plan."

Trump's plan -- which he first discussed in Atlanta last month -- includes proposals like increasing capital in Black communities by as much as $500 billion and providing better access to equitable education and job opportunities.

While this development might've been a curveball to many, it really isn't that surprising if you've been following Cube's messaging lately -- he pretty much told us right here on "TMZ Live" about a month or so ago that he'd sit down with both parties to flesh out these issues.

Demi Lovato's new song is a direct shot at President Trump, and no ... she's not worried about alienating her fans by getting political.

The singer dropped "Commander in Chief" Tuesday night, and she's already responding to backlash due to the biting lyrics that kick off with ... "Were you ever taught when you were young / If you mess with things selfishly, they’re bound to come undone?"

Unsurprisingly, some fans criticized her for attacking the President and pissing off Republicans who support him ... and even said they were ashamed and could no longer listen to her.

But, Demi doubled down on her stance, and responded to the critics by reminding them she's entitled to political views despite being a celeb ... and she's not just around to entertain her whole life.

She continued by insisting she doesn't give a damn if her new song hurts her, saying ... "I literally don't care if this ruins my career."

Demi adds that her anti-Trump track -- which includes the lyrics, "Commander in Chief, honestly / If I did the things you do, I couldn't sleep" -- stands for something she believes in and it's worth the risk of losing fans.

She concludes by saying as a queer Hispanic woman, she won't be silenced to please an audience.

Barron Trump came down with coronavirus when his mom and dad did ... so says the First Lady.

Melania Trump posted an essay Wednesday on the WH site about her personal experience with battling COVID-19, which both she and her husband, Donald, contracted a couple weeks ago. She revealed that their 14-year-old, Barron, actually became infected as well.

She says that as soon as she was diagnosed as positive, her mind immediately went to Barron -- who, to her relief, tested negative at first. However, he came back with a positive shortly thereafter, but since then ... Melania says he too, like his folks, are now COVID-free.

The First Lady writes, "Luckily he is a strong teenager and exhibited no symptoms. In one way I was glad the three of us went through this at the same time so we could take care of one another and spend time together. He has since tested negative."

The White House confirmed Barron's negative test, but appear to have kept any further testing/diagnoses on the low publicly ... until now, that is.

Melania doesn't get into Barron's specific treatment regimen, but she does touch on her own ... which was apparently vastly different than that of POTUS himself, who was admitted to the hospital for a bit and put on a number of medications, some of which are experimental.

President Trump's voice sounds a little worse for wear, and it could be due to back-to-back rallies to flaunt his post-COVID condition ... or possibly the lingering effects of the virus.

POTUS was addressing the New York Economic Club at The White House Wednesday afternoon when he repeatedly cleared his throat ... and the hoarseness only got worse as he kept talking.

The focus of his message also seemed to worsen as he rambled ... but nothing really new there.

Of course, Trump's latest White House speech follows 2 straight nights of rallies in Pennsylvania and Florida. As we reported ... he held a massive rally in Sanford, FL Monday on the heels of announcing he'd tested negative for coronavirus twice.

During the rally, the Prez made claims he's immune to COVID now, and suggested he'd be down to kiss everyone in the audience. He made similar boasts and remarks Tuesday night in Johnstown, PA ... along with several other baseless claims.

You'll recall ... just over a week ago he struggled to breathe after being released from the hospital and climbing the WH stairs. Now, he's on stage acting like it was no biggie.

George Floyd would have been 47 today, so people are remembering him by flocking to the Minneapolis block where he was killed to leave tributes.

The makeshift memorial site for Floyd -- at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue -- is visited by hundreds weekly who grieve and protest his death ... but on Wednesday they also adorned the area with flowers and balloons in honor of his birthday.

Memorials are pouring in online as well, including from Sen. Kamala Harris, who says ... "He should still be alive today celebrating another year with his family and friends."

Along with the extra balloons and flowers, there's also a gathering planned Wednesday night at the location ... to honor Floyd's memory and the movement his death sparked in America and around the world.

As we reported ... a beautiful new mural of Floyd was also unveiled days ago in his hometown of Houston, which encourages people to "Be the Change" and "Vote."

"I'd like to talk about the Houston Astros, who are miserable cheaters."

Nebraska U.S. Senator Ben Sasse used time during the Amy Coney Barrett hearing Wednesday to dump ALL OVER the Astros ... and we gotta say, it was funny as hell!!

The 48-year-old Republican was trying to make a point to ACB ... when he went on a long tangent RIPPING Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman and the rest of the 'Stros.

"All baseball fans know the Houston Astros cheat," Sasse said. "They steal signs. They bang on cans. They've done a whole bunch of miserable things historically."

Sasse continued, "They deserve to be punished probably more than they have been."

Sasse was briefly interrupted by Texas U.S. senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn ... but the dude kept on going forward regardless!

Eventually, Ben got to a point ... he said ACB has to turn down people trying to influence her decisions the same way umpires turn away cheating requests from baseball players.

We know ... kind of a stretch, but, hey, we're chucklin'!

By the way, the Astros are just one game away from being eliminated from the postseason ... if the Rays get the W in Game 4 Wednesday night, it's on to 2021 for Houston.

Amy Coney Barrett claims she has too much integrity to allow herself to be used as a pawn to get President Trump re-elected ... and she'll consider recusal if an election dispute ends up at SCOTUS.

Judge Barrett just answered some hard-hitting questions from Sen. Chris Coons during Tuesday's confirmation hearing, specifically if she was willing to sit things out if Trump brings a disputed election result to the highest court in the land.

Barrett says she's not being used by Trump -- some say he's rushing her confirmation to get an edge should the election hang in the balance of a Supreme Court ruling -- but she stopped short of a full-on commitment to recuse herself due to appearance of bias.

Judge Barrett would only go as far as to say she would consider all factors relevant to recusal and its statutes... and she even invoked Ruth Bader Ginsburg's name to make her point.

Donald Trump may be playing with fire, because he's now on the attack against America's sacred cow, if you will ... Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Trump just tweeted, "Actually, Tony's pitching arm is far more accurate than his prognostications. 'No problem, no masks'  WHO no longer likes Lockdowns -- just came out against it. Trump was right. We saved 2,000,000 USA lives!!!"

Thing is ... as we learned about COVID, Dr. Fauci led the way. Trump did the opposite -- when it became clear masks were, in fact, extremely useful, he undermined it by making it seem it was a sign of weakness. Ditto social distancing. He was even a terrible COVID patient, putting people at risk by leaving the hospital when he clearly shouldn't, going back to The White House when he was COVID positive without a mask, and so on and so on.

What really got Trump's goat ... Fauci called out Trump's campaign for releasing a campaign ad that falsely makes it seem the good Doc is praising Trump's COVID response, when, in fact, he was talking about the Coronavirus Task Force and public health officials. As for rumblings that Trump and Co. may release another Fauci fake endorsement, well Fauci made it clear ... if they dare try, it's on.

Joe Biden just found a new, unique way to reach a demographic of voters who might tune out his typical ads -- turning to hip-hop and rap to get out his message.

The Biden-Harris campaign just released a new political spot featuring New York battle rappers Charlie Clips and DNA -- who are incredibly well-known and respected in their craft. Sure enough, both men used their gift of gab and rhyme to hash out the pros and cons of voting ... and to convey what Joe and Kamala say they can do for African-Americans.

Charlie is the disillusioned one ... taking on the role of the on-the-fence voter who's not pleased with this year's choices for President -- like many Americans. DNA's on the other side of things, laying out, in sometimes excruciating detail, why he feels Joe's the better option.

They hit several hot button issues -- Black ownership of businesses, HBCU funding and police reform. We'll say this ... the ad is innovative -- not to mention incredibly well-written as far as bars go. However, it also runs the risk of coming off as pandering ... depending on how people take it.

Oprah Winfrey is on the grind this week, urging the people of Texas to get out and vote -- and her first grassroots outreach effort is something you gotta see to believe.

The TV icon, media mogul and billionaire revealed Monday night she was making cold calls to prospective voters ... in partnership with Beto O'Rourke's Powered by People org.

Anyway, she says her first call was to a guy named Christian, and ya gotta see the intros -- "Christian, this is Oprah Winfrey." At first, he can't believe it, but after hearing the voice for a few seconds, he comes around. Yeah, he was starstruck.

Oprah asks him -- on a scale of 1 to 10 -- how ready he is to get engaged with early voting in the Lone Star State ... and Christian's answer was a home run with O.

If anything ... he kinda left her starstruck with how prepared he was to hit the polls. You can tell, whatever speech she was prepared to make to rally Christian to vote was rendered useless. Beginner's luck ... it even applies for Oprah!

Kanye West appears to have one final trick up his sleeve in the last-minute blitz of his presidential campaign ... let go, and let God.

Ye just filed legal docs to lock up the rights to "God Save America" -- which he wants to slap on shirts, sweaters and hoodies in what seems to be a final-ditch effort to push his message that was front-and-center in his 1st campaign ad ... bringing faith back to politics.

Unclear if this is a campaign slogan -- like Barack Obama's famous HOPE or Trump's Make America Great Again -- but it sure reads like one. The phrase also feels like a play on "God Bless America" ... both patriotic, but kinda sanctimonious too with "Save" swapped in.

Kanye filed for the trademark last week, which lines up closely with the release of his debut campaign ad ... something that just hit the ether Monday, 3 weeks before voters hit the polls on Nov. 3. Some people feel this ad -- and maybe now this new catchphrase he wants to lock up -- is too little, too late. That, or maybe just in time ... depends on who you ask.

President Trump is on his way to address thousands of his supporters in the flesh and without a mask ... only a few hours after his doctors announced he's tested negative for COVID-19.

Trump boarded Air Force One Monday on his way to a massive rally in Sanford, Florida. The rally will be his first since revealing on October 1 he'd tested positive for the coronavirus.

Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany shared a memo from Trump's physician just after AF1 took off which said Trump had tested negative on consecutive days.

The memo stated the result was derived from a series of lab tests and other data that indicated a "lack of detectable viral replication."

It ends by saying the results have, "informed our medical team's assessment that the President is not infectious to others." The memo does not say when Trump tested negative, but it's good news for all those folks gathered in Florida to greet him.

FL Governor Ron DeSantis is also attending Monday's rally and was spotted without a mask, offering up high fives to the crowd.

Buckle up, America ... 3 weeks to go!

A new mural of George Floyd just got a public showing right in the nick of time -- days before his 47th birthday, and perhaps more importantly ... three weeks before the election.

The mural -- which has been worked on under the steady hand of local artist Ange Hillz -- was unveiled Monday in Houston ... George's hometown. It's even more personal that, though ... the artwork is featured on a wall outside of a corner store George used to frequent.

As you can see, the final product is pretty exquisite -- it's George painted in a multicolor display, with 2 doves by him carrying signs that read "Be the Change" and "Go Vote."

Like we first told you ... that lines up with his birthday wish expressed by his family members, who plan to hit the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul on Wednesday -- the day he would've turned 47 -- and trying to sign up as many people as possible and get 'em registered.

As for Monday's ceremony -- we're told George's immediate kin were in attendance, as was U.S. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee ... who made public remarks reflecting the message the mural is pushing -- namely, getting out the vote and being the change.

There were a few other community members in the crowd too, but it was relatively small ... we're told George's fam wanted to keep COVID-friendly and not make it super packed. BTW, civil rights attorney Ben Crump -- who's repping the Floyds -- called in and spoke as well.