Politix

This has gotta be the best -- THE BEST -- messaging so far in the election ... the reimagining of "The Avengers" ... telling the story of an army of Joe Biden supporters who inspired millions to vote Donald Trump out of office.

It's so good ... you see the sun rise as Stacey Abrams, Barack Obama and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms emerge from the shadows. As the video's villain -- yes, you guessed it -- urges an end to the vote count, others emerge in their fight for democracy -- Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Corey Booker, AOC, Nancy Pelosi, Gretchen Whitmer and many, many more.

The election has not been called on the news shows, but that didn't stop Bill Maher from stating what is increasingly obvious ... Joe Biden's gonna be the next president.

Bill flat-out declared Biden the winner, and he reveled in the fact he's the only one in the media who's said it out loud for all to hear. He also says Trump's acting like a "whiny little bitch" in challenging the process ... something Bill predicted 3 years ago.

The numbers certainly support Bill's conclusion ... Biden is pulling away from Trump in Pennsylvania and Georgia with a dwindling vote count remaining ... and that would be more than enough to win.

Bill also cautioned during his show ... it's not going to be smooth sailing for Biden, because there are 70 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump, and although Biden has vowed he'll be a president for all Americans -- whether they voted for him or not -- it's going to be a tall order to get them under the tent.

Nevertheless ... Bill celebrated with balloons cascading down from above -- balloons that startled the host in the middle of some pretty great conversations.

The only thing missing from the streets of New York Friday night was Martha Reeves and the Vandellas ... because there were lots and lots of dancing in the streets, celebrating a presumed Joe Biden win.

A huge crowd gathered in Washington Square Park as the crowd danced as they sang to Donald Trump, "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye." The street set was followed up with "We Are the Champions," and then "Don't Stop Believin'."

New Yorkers who dislike Trump came out in droves to celebrate in the city Trump is apparently abandoning for Palm Beach.

This bizarre weather report is pretty shocking ... as the meteorologist goes after California Governor Gavin Newsom, referring to him as a king who is ruining Thanksgiving, and that's just for starters.

Mark Mathis, the weather dude from KUSI in San Diego, has some major beef over turkey, accusing the Governor of acting like a king for daring to impose guidelines on how to stay safe during a COVID Thanksgiving.

Mathis, among other things, says Newsom is urging everyone to regularly sanitize bathrooms, but says the Guv's "throne" is only for him.

He went as far as suggesting Newsom worships Lucifer and not God.

It's ridiculous, but also telling that there's so much contempt for COVID precautions as America breaks some awful records ... on Friday alone there were 25,000 new cases.

Whether Joe Biden is ultimately declared to be the winner of the 2020 presidential election is irrelevant ... to the construction workers setting up for the inauguration anyway.

The election process has been a stressful slog complicated even more by the allegations of cheating made by President Trump ... but the Inauguration Day show will go on January 20, 2021 regardless.

Work on the site of the swearing in of the next president actually began in mid-October, but based on these new photos obtained by TMZ ... it's really starting to ramp up.

It looks like it's gearing up to be as big of an event as ever on the West Front of the Capitol, but with ongoing COVID-19 concerns ... it's hard to tell what it will look like just yet.

According to a spokesperson for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies ... the mindset is to set it all up like normal, and scale down later if coronavirus makes that necessary.

Black voters and especially Black female voters are responsible for what looks like a clear win in Georgia for Joe Biden, so it's about time they get a little more respect ... so says activist Tamika Mallory.

We got Tamika out in NYC Friday, and she made it clear ... Joe Biden will almost certainly become President in no small part because of support from Black voters. True, Donald Trump actually got more Black Georgia voters in his column than in 2016 -- 15% in 2016 and 18% this time around -- but the lion's share went to Biden. Now it's time for Biden and co. to acknowledge their contribution with action.

Tamika echos what many say ... Black women have been the backbone of the Democratic party for decades, yet they have not received their due from the party and candidates they support. Well, she says, that's gotta change ... and now.

President Trump should have one less thing to worry about -- the cop from the Village People's giving him the thumbs up to use "Y.M.C.A." ... in hopes POTUS won't get sued for it.

Victor Willis -- the founding member and lead singer of VP -- says the potential lawsuit brewing over the unauthorized use of their hit song at Trump rallies is meritless and won't succeed.

That's because Victor says his music company owns the U.S. copyright ... and he's decided to issue a retroactive nonexclusive license to the Trump campaign.

He says he made the decision because "the benefit of Trump’s use far outweigh any damage caused considering Y.M.C.A. is once again on the Billboard charts, and is now in the top of Apple iTunes chart sales."

Translation ... Victor doesn't want to kill this cash cow.

The disco-era classic was frequently heard blaring at Trump's rallies over the last couple of months. As we told you back in September ... other Village People members were annoyed their hit was being used to support Trump. It caused a rift in the group, because but Victor -- who co-wrote "Y.M.C.A." -- insisted he would not sue over it.

It came up again this week as lawyers for Scorpio Music -- which co-owns the copyright with Willis -- threatened to take legal action. Victor, however, claims his license move will shut down any infringement claims.

Throw another assist on LeBron's resume ...

Shannon Sharpe tells TMZ Sports he STRONGLY believes the NBA superstar deserves some of the credit for helping Joe Biden close in on the presidency.

"[LeBron James] and Stacey Abrams registered so many people to vote," Shannon said.

"It was him that said, 'you know what? Open up these arenas and make them polling stations.'"

Sharpe says things like LeBron's "More Than a Vote" organization -- which helped thousands of people register to vote -- as well as all his other charitable contributions put Biden in a position to possibly beat Donald Trump this week.

"I'm sure [LeBron] had something to do with it because we registered the voting block. "

"You look at what happened in Detroit, you look at what happened in Philadelphia, look at what happened in Atlanta, you look at what happened in Milwaukee."

"Now, I don't know what's going to transpire, but when President Biden, when this thing is finally official, his first meeting should be with the leaders from those communities. They should eat first! What can I do for those communities? That was his Moses. They delivered him the presidency. "

For his part, Bron celebrated like crazy on Friday -- when it appeared obvious to him that Biden would secure the White House ... writing on his social media page, "Let’s go!!!!!"

Joe Biden's biggest challenge once he ascends to the Presidency may not be waged by Republicans ... it's more likely the real challenge will come from the Bernie Bros.

Former Bernie Sanders Press Secretary Briahna Joy Gray appeared Friday on "TMZ Live" and made it clear ... from day 1, the Bernie Bros will be pressuring Biden to swing left.

Briahna has already done the math, which complicates things in a big way. The Republicans will control the Senate and they actually gained House seats ... something the pundits never saw coming. Neither did pundits expect the state-by-state races would be incredibly tight. The upshot is that Biden needs to create a coalition, which may not bode well for the progressive wing of the party. Briahna is undaunted, saying they will be coming after him.

Briahna did not seem optimistic her people will get a seat at the table when Biden picks his cabinet. In fact, she's frustrated Biden has promised to include Republicans in his cabinet. She says Trump would never have picked a Dem, so why be more generous than him?

She thinks Biden doesn't understand ... the majority of Americans want measures like health care for all. In short, Biden's gonna be walking a tightrope.

Atlanta's mayor's on cloud nine over her state being on the verge of flipping to blue ... and she says the spirit of some fine Georgians shone through to make it happen.

Keisha Lance Bottoms is feeling incredible, as all signs point to Joe Biden being elected as the next President of the United States ... something she says reflects on Georgia and inspiration it drew from the late John Lewis, C.T. Vivian and Joseph Lowery.

Though she's happy now, the Mayor admits the overall election results felt more like a "gut punch" a couple days ago when she saw roughly half the country supported Trump. Mayor Bottoms told us on "TMZ Live" she said Biden needs to address some of their issues given their sheer numbers.

That's why she says it's so important to have a President like Biden who's unifying instead of divisive ... so we can get back to "civil disagreement" and move forward in a positive way together.

She says the past 4 years have been very dark, but Keisha sounds hopeful that America's heading toward the light.

Vivica A. Fox says Joe Biden's running circles around Donald Trump when it comes to being a true leader ... and he's not even officially the president-elect yet.

We got Vivica at LAX Thursday and she told our photog she's liking what she's seeing and hearing from Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris.

Vivica says it's refreshing to see Biden acting like a true president by doing his part to help the country remain calm as folks wait on edge for ballots to be counted and a winner declared.

Biden and Harris received briefings on the coronavirus pandemic and economy Thursday while votes were still being tabulated in key states like Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania, with Biden preaching patience and assuring the public our democracy is still working, albeit slow and steady.

Vivica says it's a welcome change of pace after 4 years of Trump, who by the way, kept claiming the pandemic would magically disappear after the election. The opposite's happening -- infections are skyrocketing.

The Presidential race is still undecided, but we DO have one clear Election Day winner ... and that's the pizza industry!

According to GrubHub ... 5 of its top 8 most popular items ordered Tuesday were pizzas, and another one was a pizza-adjacent appetizer -- garlic knots with marinara.

The popular food delivery app tells TMZ its most popular food item -- based on how much more it was ordered -- was the soppressata piccante pizza. That menu item saw a whopping 202% increase compared to other Tuesdays in October.

Right behind that was Nutella pizza -- which was 192% more popular -- followed by the first non-pizza food ... meatball sliders at 181%.

Rounding out the top 8 was burrata pizza, the aforementioned garlic knots, vegan cheese pizza, loaded curly fries and finally another pizza ... Sicilian.

Every good meal needs a stiff drink, and a margarita on the rocks actually ranked right behind the burrata pizza as one of GrubHub's most-ordered items ... with a 144% increase in popularity. Impressive, but Tres de Noviembre just doesn't roll off the tongue like Cinco de Mayo

Many folks opted for an even stiffer drink ... as the old-fashioned cocktail also saw a 121% rise on Election Day. We're guessing those were ordered late in the evening as the results started tightening up.

Those who had room after pizza and booze did order dessert -- tiramisu orders spiked 181% during dinner hours.

Donald Trump was on a tear Thursday, grousing that he's somehow being cheated in the election, but he offered no evidence to support his claim ... and he said he'll fight it in court ... specifically, the Supreme Court.

Trump spoke at The White House, saying if you count what he calls "the legal votes" then he wins. Translation -- he thinks the absentee votes are illegal. It obviously makes no sense, because mail-in ballots are every bit as legal as ballots cast at polling places.

He got all David Copperfield, musing how his early lead could "magically" evaporate.

And then, Trump set his sights on the polls, which he rightly said were ridiculously off. Trump suggested it was all rigged to keep his supporters away from the polls and potential donors away from their wallets. He says it's "polling suppression."

He attacked the states where he's losing, calling them corrupt ... especially Pennsylvania.

As for going to the Supreme Court ... as you know his latest justice could be a swing vote. Just 2 weeks ago, the Court ruled 4-4 on a voting issue. Amy Coney Barrett will be the 5th vote. The real issue ... Trump has no proof and therefore no case of illegal voting.

April Ryan views the divide between voters as a warning that more and more of us simply can't agree on what America's true nature is, or said another way -- who the hell are we???

The White House correspondent and CNN contributor joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and we asked her what the nearly 50-50 split in votes for President Trump and Joe Biden says about who we are as a country.

April says she is concerned about intense rhetoric from Trump, and others, about liberating states, Black Lives Matter, and armed protesters at ballot counting centers. She says the fact storefronts were boarded up before Election Day shows where we are as a nation.

What's more, April says a lot of her friends voted for Trump ... and she's sad they don't seem to be moved by what another 4 years of Trump might mean for her as a Black woman.

Translation: Where's our compassion and empathy?

April says she can relate to Cedric The Entertainer, who told us he has some buddies who support Trump while turning a blind eye to Trump's inflammatory comments about race.

A Facebook group with more than 300,000 members claiming the election's being stolen from President Trump just got removed ... over growing fears it's stirring violence.

The "Stop the Steal" group began picking up serious steam among Trump supporters over the past 24 hours, and was attempting to organize protests this Saturday around the country, claiming ... "PRESIDENT TRUMP NEEDS US NOW MORE THAN EVER."

Facebook's not having it though, and has shut the group down citing "worrying calls for violence from some members of the group." FB also says the group was "organized around the delegitimization of the election process."

The social media giant says ... "In line with the exceptional measures that we are taking during this period of heightened tension, we have removed the Group 'Stop the Steal,' which was creating real-world events."

As you likely know by now ... Trump and his campaign officials have been very active in opposing the ballot-counting process in several battleground states and vowed multiple lawsuits over it.

There has been some chaos at ballot counting centers in Detroit and Phoenix where some of Trump's most avid supporters have shown up to protest, some of them with firearms.

Love him or hate him, politically ... Lil Pump is having a blast right now, and hung out with some exotic animals to top it off -- which might add to his hate column.

The Trump-loving rapper was fresh off the Trump campaign trail Wednesday when he decided to make a pit stop at the Myrtle Beach Safari run by 'Tiger King' star Doc Antle.

Antle tells TMZ ... Pump and some friends left D.C. and headed to South Carolina after the rapper got in touch with Doc through Tiger Kingdom executive producer Steven Dorn.

Doc says Pump spent the afternoon chilling with tigers and tiger cubs, riding Bubbles the elephant and visiting with Angada the chimpanzee, and as you can see ... he was loving it.

We're told Lil Pump and his pals then had dinner at the park, and all of the fun was filmed for the new docuseries, "Tiger Kingdom: More Than a King."

Gotta say, the pairing of the rapper and the zoo owner's an interesting one ... as both fellas aren't necessarily on the nation's most-popular list. Pump's been getting major flak for endorsing Trump -- but he doesn't really care -- and Antle was recently indicted for wildlife trafficking and animal cruelty.

Doc denied the allegations and said he's looking forward to being able to "clear my good name."