President Trump

It makes no sense, but it's very clear a number of Donald Trump supporters who will attend Saturday night's Tulsa campaign rally have unbridled contempt for masks that help prevent the spread of coronavirus, because this dude mocked the masks with a diaper to block what he claims are COVID-19 farts.

Brian Clothier is wearing an adult diaper covering his pants with the inscription, 'Scientists say [farts] spread the virus. I COVID my ass to stop the spread.'"

First things first ... there have been a few tabloid stories suggesting the virus can be spread by farting, but doctors and scientists are poo-pooing it. The CDC has said there's no evidence of such a spread.

Even if it were true, why the contempt for masks? It's interesting ... no one from Trump on down has ever said masks are ineffective. Trump's own task force has recommended masks when people go out in public. Trump is clearly politicizing masks -- making them look like a sign of weakness, which is insane -- but why are his followers buying into a fiction that will get them sick?

Predictions based on models suggest anywhere between 800 and 1,000 people who attend the rally will probably contract the virus. And, then those people go home and infect others ... some of who could well die.

The fact that people at the rally are showing a hostility toward doctors and scientists who have offered a way to keep them and their loved ones healthy is the most baffling development since the hoarding of toilet paper.

Ben Carson believes President Donald Trump could soften his stance on athletes kneeling for the national anthem ... saying he'll "work with" POTUS to understand the message.

Of course, Trump has been one of the most outspoken critics against kneeling ... and recently said he'd stop watching soccer and football if protests continued.

POTUS also famously said to fire any "son of a bitch" who knelt, back in 2017.

Carson -- the Housing and Urban Development Secretary and the only black member of Trump's cabinet -- discussed the issue on the Hugh Hewitt Show ... saying he will try to get POTUS to understand the real reason behind the movement.

"Well, I don't think he has manifested as much animosity in that region lately," Carson said Monday. "And, I think we just continue to work with him. He'll get there."

The national anthem protest has become a major topic of discussion following the death of George Floyd ... with NFL names like Adrian Peterson, Baker Mayfield and Bill O'Brien saying they will kneel this upcoming season.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is reminding Donald Trump exactly who is on whose turf ... and she's ready to stand up to his threats about putting dogs and soldiers on the streets of her city.

The mayor of our nation's capital joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" and made it clear ... the President is a guest in her city of 700,000 taxpaying citizens, not the other way around, and he's overstepping his bounds if he thinks he can threaten D.C. with federal muscle.

Mayor Bowser says Trump's bashing of the D.C. police, calling in the military and instructing law enforcement to open fire on peaceful protesters should be alarming to all Americans ... not just those who live in D.C.

She also tells us she's concerned Trump won't accept the 2020 election results if he loses to Joe Biden ... and says Trump's tweets attacking her and protesters are a clear signal the Prez is gung ho on intimidating the masses to bend to his will.

It's a pretty important conversation ... and part of the Mayor's growing feud with Trump. Remember, she's already poked the bear with the massive Black Lives Matter mural outside the White House.

President Trump's attempt to embrace George Floyd is clearly BS when you see what he retweeted -- a claim from Candace Owens that Floyd is a symbol of black America's "broken culture."

The President showed strong support for the conservative talking head's disgusting beliefs with 2 retweets on Friday ... promoting a theory she spewed about George on Glenn Beck's radio show. Owens said, "The fact that he has been held up as a martyr sickens me."

Their point is absolutely outrageous -- that just because George Floyd had previous trouble with the law, protesters shouldn't be chanting his name.

Beck and Owens quickly glossed over the fact accused murderer Derek Chauvin had pressed his kneed into Floyd's neck for nearly 9 minutes -- and almost 3 of those after Floyd was dead -- which is, of course, what millions of people around the world are actually protesting.

To say they're completely missing the point is a gross understatement.

Even more appalling is the fact the President stood in the Rose Garden on Friday and claimed George Floyd would be looking down and smiling because this was a "great day" for him and for America.

Julia Roberts is making a political statement with her face mask -- one that's sure to irk President Trump ... on so many levels.

The actress stepped out Thursday wearing a face covering with former President Barack Obama's face on it. Julia was strolling around the Malibu Country Mart as she did her part to mitigate the spreading of the coronavirus.

Let's face it, she was also further politicizing face coverings -- something the current POTUS started by refusing to wear one ... even though his own administration's guidelines say everyone should in public. Arguably, Trump's adamant stance is why we've seen clashes around the country over face masks.

Of course, 45 trashes 44 every chance he gets ... so the Oscar winner's pandemic fashion statement would no doubt get a thumbs down from the White House.

We're confident in saying ... Julia wouldn't give a crap.

North Korea's Supreme Leader/dictator Kim Jong-un has reportedly died, or is on his death bed with no hope for recuperation -- according to media outlets in China and Japan.

Amid reports China has sent a medical team to their communist neighbors this week to check in/advise on Kim, a Hong Kong-backed news channel's vice director -- who's apparently the niece of a Chinese foreign minister -- blasted out the news herself ... he's dead. TMZ has not confirmed that.

The woman put the report on a social media app called Weibo for her nearly 15 million followers to read, citing a "very solid source" about the claim Kim had, in fact, perished. A Japanese magazine reports he's in a "vegetative state" after a heart surgery gone wrong.

The outlet reports -- citing a Chinese medical expert privy to the situation -- that Kim had clutched his chest in early April and fell down while visiting the countryside there. He needed a stent procedure done, but apparently ... it either wasn't done rapidly enough, or it was botched completely by the surgeon -- with some reports saying he had shaky hands.

There's a lot of rumors swirling about the guy's condition -- and the fact is ... he hasn't made any major public appearances looking to be okay in several weeks now. About a week or so ago, CNN reported Kim was in "grave danger" after a medical procedure.

President Trump has downplayed the reports and has refused to elaborate -- but it looks like KJU's sister, Kim Yo-jong, might be getting set up to possibly replace him as Supreme Leader ... reports say she was recently re-promoted to a prominent position of power there.

Here's another point ... Saturday marks a major military anniversary in North Korea, where they celebrate the founding of the Korean People's Army in 1932 -- something they hype annually with a parade, and one in which Kim might normally make an appearance.

International reporters on the ground say if Kim was doing alright and not on death's doorstep, he and his team would figure out a way for him to show up to squash the rumors.

If he doesn't, it's probably not a good sign ... almost all but confirming something is wrong.

Former President Barack Obama waited until the dust settled among all the Democratic presidential candidates, but he's fully throwing his support behind Joe Biden now.

Obama opened a video message with an uplifting sentiment about the fight against coronavirus and gave a thank you to those on the frontlines. He then transitioned to the political side ... saying, "That's why I'm so proud to endorse Joe Biden as President of the United States."

Obama then goes in on Trump and Republicans, saying, "One thing everybody has learned by now, the Republicans running the White House and the U.S. Senate are not interested in progress, they're interested in power."

At one point he mentions the failure of the Trump administration in containing the coronavirus, saying Republicans ignored the science of pandemics just as they ignored the science of climate change ... reminding everyone of the importance of honesty and informativeness from a President.

Biden was obviously thrilled with the endorsement, tweeting just a few minutes later, "Barack — This endorsement means the world to Jill and me. We’re going to build on the progress we made together, and there’s no one I’d rather have standing by my side."

Obama's backing of Biden comes just a day after Bernie Sanders joined Joe on a livestream to offer his endorsement, as well. Sanders dropped out of the race last week, seemingly leaving the nomination to Biden.

Joe told Bernie if he does indeed become the nominee, he's going to need Sanders' help "not just to win the campaign, but to govern."

Biden will certainly need more of Obama's help to defeat Trump, as well. The good news is ... 44 has been getting back out there more lately, mostly on social media to post helpful info about the coronavirus pandemic.

Ya gotta think he'll pivot to pushing his party to vote for Joe now though ... especially since it's been his goal to unite Democrats after all the primary chaos cooled down.

Donald Trump finally, if not belatedly, took a coronavirus test ... but he can't shake the habit of shaking hands.

Trump took the podium Saturday in the White House Press Room and announced he took the test Friday night. Thing is ... he says he took it NOT to find out if he has the virus but because the media has been on his butt to take the test. He says the results should come in soon -- a couple days -- but he took his temperature today and he's not running a fever.

A reporter asked him about sending "mixed messages" by still shaking hands -- something he did a lot Friday at a Rose Garden news conference. It's a little hard to follow, because on the one hand he says he never liked shaking hands and resisted it, and on the other hand he says it's a hard habit to break.

As for taking the test, 3 people who were at the same function as Trump a week or so ago have tested positive for the virus.

Pete Buttigieg is urging Bernie Sanders supporters to get on board with Joe Biden, and quickly, because -- clearly referencing the coronavirus response -- he says it's a matter of life or death to defeat President Trump.

The former Democratic presidential candidate joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" and pushed for unity within the Democratic party as Biden and Sanders prep for Sunday's debate. Up to this point, many Bernie backers ain't warming up to Biden, but Pete says now's the time for that to change.

He says the debate will be tricky waters for both candidates to navigate, because if they both go for the jugular ... Trump will be the only winner.

The way Pete sees it, the differences between Biden and Bernie are molehills compared to the mountainous divide across the aisle -- and he says Trump is failing to keep American lives safe in the face of the deadly pandemic.

Pete explained how Dems can be smart about the election, and lays out the consequences -- in his eyes -- of Bernie bros not voting Biden.

Andrew Gillum's not hung up on the "electability" of Bernie Sanders or other democratic candidates for Prez, because he thinks it'll work itself out ... but he's NOT down with signing on as VP with any of them.

We got the former candidate for Florida governor Tuesday at LAX ... and he says he trusts the process of our nation's voting system in choosing the right person to go against Donald Trump.

As he puts it ... voters aren't casting their ballot for a candidate they think is going to lose the presidential race.

So, we ask Andrew how he'd feel about getting involved in the race himself -- as the Dem's candidate for Vice President -- and he shoots it down ... saying he's trying to help everyone on his side.

Check it out, though ... Gillum's got a compelling reason for declining the honor of Veep ... but he doesn't QUITE say it's completely out of the question.

In fact, as far as hypotheticals go ... he admits it's a doozy.

Two police officers who busted Stormy Daniels during her 2018 strip club gig in Ohio are outta work for what police now admit was a bogus arrest.

The Columbus Police Department announced its decision Thursday after it found officers Steven Rosser and Whitney Lancaster violated rules when they arrested Stormy on 3 counts of illegal sexually oriented activity. The department also said the officers lied during an internal investigation about the basis for their sting operation.

As you might remember, Columbus PD hauled in Stormy for motorboating an undercover cop. Ohio has strict laws on touching strippers. Stormy's attorney at the time, Michael Avenatti, accused officers of setting her up and alleged the arrest was politically motivated -- she'd gone public about her alleged affair with Donald Trump.

City officials ultimately determined Ohio's no touching law should have only applied to regular performers and NOT Stormy, a guest performer.

Stormy's charges were dropped within 24 hours, but she later sued the department and won a $450,000 settlement. The controversy also resulted in the police department disbanding its controversial vice squad following a federal corruption investigation.

The federal probe determined Rosser lied about the purpose of the strip club sting ... saying he was searching for an underage stripper. The search never happened, and instead, they arrested Stormy. Two other officers were suspended for the arrest.

Neil Young's officially ready to keep on rockin' in the free world, and soon ... he'll be free to express his hatred for Donald Trump in a voting booth.

The legendary rock 'n' roll artist was granted U.S. citizenship Wednesday at the Convention Center in downtown L.A. ... and he's clearly proud to be an American.

Accompanied by his wife, Daryl Hannah, Neil excitedly waved his mini Old Glory as he left the Oath Ceremony while clutching his naturalization documents.

If ya don't know ... Neil's from Canada, but he's been a Southern (California) Man off and on since the '60s, and he recently decided to pursue dual citizenship so he could vote in the 2020 election.