Politix

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just ripped into a colleague who allegedly called her a "f***ing b*tch" after a heated debate over a crime bill, saying she is someone's daughter and by not squarely apologizing, he is not a decent man.

AOC took to the House floor Thursday with an impassioned speech on the impact the words of Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Florida) had on her, her family and other women.

The congresswoman choked up when she said she's glad her dad, who is not alive, did not hear Yoho's comments. But, she says, her mom did, and what Yoho said cuts to the core.

Yoho offered an apology -- of sorts -- Wednesday, saying he regretted "the abrupt manner of the conversation," but never apologized for the words attributed to him by others. He had earlier denied saying it, but some people on the floor say they heard it, loud and clear.

AOC offered this ... everyone says things they regret from time to time, but when the words go beyond decency, a decent person apologizes, and Yoho did not.

She also took issue with Yoho's comment that he has 2 daughters. AOC said she's someone's daughter too, although Yoho didn't seem to care.

Atlanta Dream star Renee Montgomery says she straight-up disagrees with her boss -- claiming Sen. Kelly Loeffler is wrong for thinking fans will turn on the league overeats support of Black Lives Matter.

FYI, Senator Loeffler (R-GA) is a co-owner of the Dream -- and made it clear she's AGAINST the league's social justice initiatives that support BLM claiming it will rub some WNBA fans the wrong way.

"I think a lot of people feel that they may not have a place," Loeffler told ESPN ... "They may feel excluded from this sport and other sports that make them feel like American values aren't at the core of what we're doing here."

Loeffler was also critical of the Black Lives Matter organization -- saying it's much different from the BLM movement, which she strongly condemns.

"The Black Lives Matter political organization advocates things like defunding and abolishing the police, abolishing our military, emptying our prisons, destroying the nuclear family. It promotes violence and antisemitism. To me, this is not what our league stands for."

Enter Montgomery ... who played 2 seasons with the Dream -- and responded to Loeffler's comments on the "TMZ Sports" TV show.

Montgomery says it's great that Loeffler is open to having a deeper 1-on-1 conversation about the issue ... but for now, they remain on opposite sides of the fence.

Long story short, Montgomery says the WNBA is embracing the BLM movement -- NOT the group -- and she's frustrated that certain people like Loeffler are trying to conflate them.

Montgomery -- an 11-year WNBA vet and 2-time WNBA champion -- also says she doesn't believe fans will leave in droves because players are fighting for social justice.

"If its gonna bother a fan that much that a player wants to promote equality -- that a player wants to promote the movement -- then maybe [those fans] shouldn’t watch it."

Montgomery adds, "[Loeffler is] saying they're gonna lose fans but I think a lot of people will be welcoming to the idea of inclusion."

Renee also wonders why Loeffler is digging in her heels so strongly to continue to be a part of a league with such different social values -.

"I don’t understand why you would want to be a part of something that has such different beliefs than you."

Montgomery recently opted out of her 3rd year with the Dream to focus on social justice issues -- but hasn't retired and could rejoin the league next year.

When asked if the rift with Loeffler would dissuade her from rejoining the Atlanta Dream -- Montgomery said it would not ... explaining how the organization as a whole has been incredibly supportive.

"I have no problem with the Dream organization at all."

Kim Kardashian's jumping to the defense of her husband, Kanye West, publicly acknowledging he's in the middle of a serious mental health issue ... which has everyone close to him concerned.

Kim says, "As many of you know, Kanye has bipolar disorder. Anyone who has this or has a loved one in their life who does, knows how incredibly complicated and painful it is to understand. I’ve never spoken publicly about how this has affected us at home because I am very protective of our children and Kanye’s right to privacy when it comes to his health. But today, I feel like I should comment on it because of the stigma and misconceptions about mental health."

Kim continued in a social media post, "Those that understand mental illness or even compulsive behavior know that the family is powerless unless the member is a minor. People who are unaware or far removed from this experience can be judgmental and not understand that the individual themselves have to engage in the process of getting help no matter how hard family and friends try."

Seemingly referring directly to her husband's disturbing South Carolina rally over the weekend, Kim said ... "I understand Kanye is subject to criticism because he is a public figure and his actions at times can cause strong opinions and emotions. He is a brilliant but complicated person who on top of the pressures of being an artist and a black man, who experienced the painful loss of his mother, and has to deal with the pressure and isolation that is heightened by his bipolar disorder. Those who are close with Kanye know his heart and understand his words some times do not align with his intentions."

Oklahoma State football star Chuba Hubbard says he's shutting down his Twitter account after receiving backlash for calling out Oklahoma County's district attorney ... but the RB insists he'll still continue to use his platform to push for social justice.

21-year-old Hubbard -- one of the best college tailbacks in the country -- called for D.A. David Prater to resign on Monday after he claimed the guy "overstepped his position."

Hubbard, along with many others in Oklahoma, is upset with Prater -- they believe Prater should have levied charges against cops who killed 17-year-old Isaiah Lewis in a tragic arrest attempt back in 2019.

But, when Prater cleared the officers, people protested ... and when the demonstrators were eventually arrested for expressing their outrage, Prater's office hit them with terrorism charges.

This didn't fly well with Hubbard, who fired off a series of tweets criticizing the guy for the moves.

"OK County District Attorney David Prater is abusing his power as an elected official to charge demonstrators exercising the First Amendment with terrorism and ONE MILLION dollar bail," Hubbard said. "This is UNACCEPTABLE."

But, Hubbard's tweets were met with heavy backlash on the popular app ... and on Tuesday, Chuba said he was doing away with his Twitter account so people didn't have an avenue to release their hate on him.

"I have never incited or promoted violence or hate," Hubbard said. "All I've done is voice my opinion on issues I feel are not ethical! I love all! Even those that don't see eye to eye with me!"

"I will continue to play football at the highest level! That won't ever stop! But I also won't stop pushing for what I feel is right!!!! With that being said.. I have noticed my social media has become a playground for hate.. That's the last thing I ever wanted to happen!"

Hubbard continued, "You will hear me.. You will see me.. You will feel me!!! But not on twitter or any other socials until further notice! All love Chuba RMN"

A hostage situation in Ukraine ended safely when the country's president met one of the gunman's odd demands -- posting a video encouraging folks to watch a Joaquin Phoenix movie.

Here's the deal ... a heavily armed man took 13 people hostage on a bus in western Ukraine, leading to a tense, day-long standoff Tuesday with police.

The gunman told cops he rigged the bus with explosives and was holding the passengers hostage, and gave the government a list of demands. Sounds a lot like the plot of "Speed," right?!?

The hostage-taker, later identified as 44-year-old Russian-born Maksym S. Kryvosh, finally surrendered and freed all 13 people after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky fulfilled one of the demands -- posting a video on his official Facebook account recommending folks watch the 2005 documentary, "Earthlings."

Can ya believe it? The guy didn't even request "The Joker."

The documentary, directed by Shaun Monson and narrated by Joaquin, focuses on human exploitation of animals. Ukrainian officials explained Zelenskyy reached an agreement with the hostage-taker during a 15-minute phone call, with the gunman surrendering once Zelenskyy posted on Facebook.

Once the gunman was detained and the hostages were safe, Zelenskyy deleted the movie suggestion from his Facebook page.

Kanye West would be a slave were it not for the likes of Harriet Tubman ... so says her great-great-great niece who is outraged by Ye's comments on Sunday at his fundraiser.

Tina Wyatt is extremely upset Kanye dared to say Harriet Tubman did not free slaves. She says her legendary relative was actually free when she risked her life to save others, so she finds it beyond offensive Kanye made such a comment. Fact is ... Kanye's dead wrong.

Check it out ... Tina thinks Kanye's in desperate need of a basic history lesson. Once African Americans were freed, they actually flourished -- starting businesses and even getting elected to office -- until Jim Crow segregation laws and black codes were enacted to create racist policies that held black people down.

Kanye West has the proverbial snowball's chance in hell to win the 2020 Presidential election  -- but still, it never hurts to be prepared ... which is why Madame Tussauds already has a presidential bust of the guy.

The famous wax museum has a tradition of making clay head sculptures of our nation's leaders -- they made one for Donald Trump 4 years ago before he won the presidency -- and now they made one for Mr. West.

Hey, you never know -- better to have it on deck and ready to go if the ultimate upset goes down. We've seen it happen before.

Now, bear in mind the sculptures are not the full, colored-in wax statues you might see at any one of its museums around the world. These are different -- we're told they actually place the presidential heads in an Oval Office exhibit.

Here's another thing -- our sources say MT and co. have only done a head-to-head presidential "face-off," if you will, one other time ... and that was for Hillary Clinton and DT. Now, they're running it back -- but oddly enough, they opted for Ye before sculpting Joe Biden.

It's true ... we're told Madame Tussauds' team has not yet completed the Biden bust, but they say should he win, they'll knock it out.

Just goes to show where people's heads are at these days 🤷🏽‍♂️

Kanye West's first presidential rally didn't help him get on the ballot in another important state ... he just missed the cut in South Carolina.

Kanye's campaign missed Monday's deadline to get on the November ballot in SC ... Chris Whitmore, Director of Public Information for the South Carolina State Election Commission tells TMZ.

Kanye is running with the independent Birthday Party, which gave him a hard 12 PM ET deadline to get the 10,000 signatures needed as a petition candidate, but we're told the State Election Commission didn't hear a peep from Ye or his campaign -- no traditional signatures and no digital signatures.

As we reported ... Kanye tried to grab enough signatures over the weekend, even asking folks to sign up over social media, and held a wild campaign rally that alarmed, upset and concerned his friends and the Kardashians.

None of that moved the needle, apparently.

Kanye's hopes of being on the state's ballot are pretty much dashed ... there is no write-in option for voters in South Carolina and the only way Yeezy could be on the November ballot now is as a legit party candidate (Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, etc.) and that ain't happening.

For those keeping score at home ... Kanye's on the ballot in Oklahoma, but he's now whiffed in SC, Florida or Michigan.

Well, this is nuts ...

Mark Cuban and Sen. Ted Cruz are calling each other out about everything from the NBA's handling of anthem protests to China ... but the focus seems to be on who's got the bigger balls.

It all started when a radio talk show host from Texas tweeted at the Dallas Mavericks owner that if any of his players kneel during the national anthem when the season resumes next week, he won't support the team anymore.

Cuban responded -- "Bye" ... adding, "The National Anthem Police in this country are out of control."

"If you want to complain, complain to your boss and ask why they don't play the National Anthem every day before you start work."

That's when Ted Cruz chimed in ... saying, "Really??!? NBA is telling everyone who stands for the flag, who honors our cops and our veterans, to 'piss off'? In Texas, no less? Good luck with that."

Cruz didn't tag Cuban in his tweet -- and Cuban called him out for it ... saying, "Have some balls for once @tedcruz. Speak to me. It's my tweet."

That's when Cruz replied with another BALLS shot!

"Speaking of balls, tell us what you think about China. I’ll wait."

Of course, Cruz is referring to the NBA's massive problems with China in 2019 -- after Houston Rockets G.M. Daryl Morey tweeted out support for protesters in Hong Kong.

China essentially blackballed the NBA over the tweet -- and the league is still reportedly scrambling to smooth out its relationship with the country.

So, Cruz decided that's where he'd focus his attack on Cuban on Monday morning.

"Let’s try simpler. Mark, tough guy, can you say 'Free Hong Kong'? Can your players put that on their jerseys? Can you condemn the CCP’s concentration camps w/ 1 million Uyghurs? Can you say ANYTHING other than 'Chairman Mao is beautiful & wise'?"

Nothing back from Cuban yet -- but guess you could say the ball's in his court????

Kanye West is already switching up his campaign -- saying he wants Jay-Z to get on the ticket with him as his VEEP ... despite having already named a running mate.

Ye made the revelation Sunday before his attention-grabbing rally in South Carolina, telling a local blogger how he realized Jay should be his VP. There are, of course, a couple of big hurdles to this pairing becoming reality ... and candidate West addressed them.

First off, Michelle Tidball ... the Wyoming preacher who is currently his running mate. Kanye says she told him she'd be down to take another position in his cabinet if he found a different running mate.

Secondly -- and Ye says it himself in the interview -- he hasn't spoken to Jay in a long while now but in his eyes ... that's a good thing because it proves they're really "brothers" and bonded for life. Unclear if Jay-Z has responded to the request, but Kanye says he's put it out there.

Now, as for how KW landed on Hov as someone to tap in the first place ... he says he was getting signs. Listen carefully ... sounds like it came down to a coincidence about initials.

Whether Jay-Z would seriously accept or not remains to be seen, but after Sunday's off-the-wall rally -- which resulted in tears shed and personal business spilled, not to mention other controversial remarks -- we wouldn't bank on it.

Especially if Jay's feeling at all like Trey Songz is at the moment. The singer openly bashed Kanye online after seeing his wild South Carolina appearance.

Al Sharpton thinks President Trump joking about renaming a military base after him is more of the same old song the man has played time and again ... think Song of the South.

We got the Reverend Sunday in NYC ... not too long after Trump's interview with FOX News' Chris Wallace aired earlier in the morning. The Prez was asked about threatening to veto a military spending bill that has bipartisan support ... all because it also seeks to rename national military bases named after Confederate generals, like Fort Bragg.

DT challenged Chris to come up with a new name .. and then he name-dropped Al out of nowhere.

Welp, the good Reverend has some thoughts on that ... telling us it's hard to make sense of what Trump's getting at, because he says the dude's so nonsensical. Still, in Al's eyes ... he finds it crazy that Trump's so stuck on defending the Confederacy as a heroic cause.

It obviously wasn't, as he points out -- the rebels were traitors, and definitely on the wrong (and losing) side of history.

Kanye West's first presidential rally just wrapped up and he stirred up lots of controversy by discussing Harriet Tubman, abortion and the possibility of divorcing Kim Kardashian West.

Ye held his first event as a candidate Sunday at the Exquis Event Center in North Charleston, SC -- and right off the bat ... it was unorganized and rowdy. He didn't even have a podium or a microphone to address the crowd, which was right up in his face.

At any rate, Kanye rambled through a number of topics -- oftentimes incoherently -- but one thing he said that came through crystal clear ... him suggesting that Harriet did NOT free slaves in her day, but just siphoned them off to other oppressive white folks.

That line drew jeers and groans from the crowd almost instantly -- we gotta say, it seriously reminded us of his "slavery was a choice" moment at TMZ a few years ago.

There's more. At one point, Ye launched into a rant about abortion, a woman's choice, etc. -- and he got incredibly emotional recounting a story about his then-girlfriend (now wife) Kim once telling him she was pregnant and how they considered not having the baby.

Kanye broke down sobbing while telling the story, saying that it hurt him because he confessed he did not want to have it ... which reminded him of his own father, who apparently didn't want him either when his own mother, Donda West, was pregnant.

It was a very personal thing to share, and Ye seemed to acknowledge as much when he followed up by saying it's possible Kim might wanna divorce him after this. He continued that train of thought, saying if she ever did ... he'd be thankful for her delivering North.

Ye went on to touch on a number of other subjects, including the fact that there weren't enough Black people in true positions of power -- including at Adidas, where he says he wants to sit on the board of directors, or else. Of course, he also talked about God and Jesus.

During the chaotic rally, Ye tried fielding questions from onlookers -- all of whom had to wear masks, but hardly any of whom were socially distanced -- but it mostly turned into a shouting match between himself and the rambunctious crowd. It was all hard to follow.

Probably not the greatest start for the Birthday Party campaign, but Kanye doesn't seem to mind ... he said he doesn't care if he wins the presidency or not. Why run then, right?

Anyway, up until today, Kanye seemed pretty serious about his presidential bid. TMZ broke the story ... Ye has filed docs with the Federal Election Commission, and he's also filed docs to get on the ballot in Oklahoma.

He tweeted Saturday, "Hi guys please sign up to put me on the ballot in South Carolina at any of these locations," and he went on to list various places, in addition to his 2020 website.

The first poll shows Kanye is pulling 2% of the vote. What's unclear ... between Biden and Trump, who gets hurt more and who benefits the most? What's also unclear ... if Ye's gonna go the distance after the train wreck that just occurred.

Roger Stone called a Black radio host a "negro" during a contentious interview.

It went down Saturday on Mo Kelly's show on KFI radio, after Stone claimed the conviction and sentence -- which Trump undid -- was unfair, because, as he put it, "It was a jury of my political opponents."

Mo shot back that it was actually the reverse ... that Stone benefited because he's tight with Trump. Mo then doubled down, saying, "There are thousands of people treated unfairly daily. Hell, your number just happened to come up in the lottery," adding, "I'm guessing it was more than just luck, Roger, right?"

Then there's a pause, and you hear Stone mumble, "I don't really feel like arguing with this negro." It's hard to know, but it seems Stone is saying it to someone he's with.

Mo is clearly indignant, repeatedly asking Stone what it was that he called him.

Stone goes radio silent for a long while, before speaking again and denying he called Mo a "negro."

Mo tweeted afterward, "I'm nobody's NEGRO."

Donald Trump is not only losing to Joe Biden ... he's losing to Linkin Park.

Twitter has removed a video Trump retweeted, with the group's song, "In The End." The original tweet was from the account of Dan Scavino, the White House Media Director.

The video vanished Saturday, replaced with this message -- "This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner."

Trump has drawn the ire of Linkin Park before, and they underscored their contempt for the President Saturday, saying, "Linkin Park did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music. A cease and desist has been issued."

Apparently, Twitter heard them.

Chester Bennington, who fronted Linkin Park until his death in 2017, vehemently opposed Trump, declaring, “Trump is a greater threat to the USA than terrorism!! We have to take back our voices and stand for what we believe in.”

The choice of the song, "In The End," is curious, with lyrics that include this ... “I tried so hard / And got so far / But in the end / It doesn’t even matter.”

Marco Rubio made a flub in his tribute to Rep. John Lewis -- mistaking him for another African-American congressman who passed away last year ... Elijah Cummings.

The Senator from Florida posted a heartfelt message about his iconic colleague on House side of Capitol Hill, in a since-deleted Twitter post, writing ... "It was an honor to know & be blessed to serve in Congress with JohnLewis a genuine & historic American hero."

He added, "May the Lord grant him eternal peace." Marco attached a photo of himself with ... not John Lewis. It was former U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, who died in 2019.

It would appear he and/or his staff quickly noticed the error -- because they took it down and replaced it with a post featuring a pic of Marco and the real John Lewis.

MR owned up to the mistake, writing ... "Earlier today I tweeted an incorrect photo. John Lewis was a genuine American hero. I was honored to appear together in Miami 3 years ago at an event captured in video below. My God grant him eternal rest."

Congressman John Lewis, a central and powerful figure in the Civil Rights movement, is dead after a 7-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

Rep. Lewis, who represented Georgia's 5th Congressional District for 17 terms, died Friday. He had been diagnosed as stage 4 in December 2019. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, "Today, America mourns the loss of one of the greatest heroes of American history."

She referred to him as the "Conscience of the Congress."

Lewis had been in Congress since 1987, but had already had an inspiring impact on American history long before that -- having marched, shoulder-to-shoulder at times, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the fight for Civil Rights.

In 1961, Mr. Lewis was part of a protest against segregated buses in the South which became know as the Freedom Rides. He spoke at the landmark March on Washington in 1963, where Dr. King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, and marched for voting rights in Alabama in 1965.

John was one of the protesters brutalized by cops during the march from Selma to Montgomery, AL. As he led several hundred marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, John was clubbed in the head by a state trooper -- fracturing his skull and leaving a scar he carried for the rest of his life.

His second-to-last tweet, back on July 7, commemorated his release from prison after he'd been arrested during a Freedom Ride in Jackson, Mississippi.

Recently, the Distinguished Gentleman from Georgia had become a nemesis of President Trump. Rep. Lewis did not attend Trump's inauguration, openly called him a "racist," and they would frequently trade barbs in the media.

Former President Obama awarded the Congressman the Medal of Freedom in 2011. During the ceremony he said, "Generations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind -- an American who knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time; whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now."

Rep. Lewis was 80.

RIP