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Joe Biden wanted to show the world he has soul, so what better place to prove it than Dulan's on Crenshaw.

In case you don't know, Dulan's Soul Food is an L.A. institution, and clearly Biden knows it. So, after the shellacking he took during the first debate courtesy of Sen. Kamala Harris, he grabbed an apron and got to work.

Our photog tested his mettle, asking the hard question ... What's your favorite dish? Answer:  Potatoes, eggs, sausage, bacon and fried chicken -- solid choices, all of them.

Representative Ilhan Omar says she's not scared for herself in the wake of Donald Trump's battle cry -- that she should go back to where she came from -- but she's mighty concerned for, as she puts it, "people who share my identity."

We got the Minnesota Congresswoman on Capitol Hill Thursday in a pap crush that rivals Kim Kardashian. She told our photog, Colin, Trump is sending a message to people who come from other countries like hers that they are not welcome in America.

Rep. Omar says her message is a direct counter -- that people with her background belong in this country and have the ability to serve the country ... that America is their country.

She's clearly touched by the support she's received from Cardi B and other celebrities who have embraced her.

Ted Cruz is earmarking the billions upon billions of dollars El Chapo's been ordered to fork over to the U.S. to secure the southern border, and he says President Trump's backing his plan.

Like the Prez, the Texas Senator's all about building the wall, and he tells TMZ the next step now that the Mexican drug lord has been sentenced to life in prison ... should be to use his $12.6 BILLION fortune to make it happen.

Cruz acknowledges El Chapo's drug money might be difficult to track down, but says there should be no debate over where the cash goes once it's seized.

Ted's been serious about this for a couple years now -- he introduced legislation known as the EL CHAPO Act in April 2017, but it died ... so he reintroduced it in January.

He believes it's still a perfectly fitting conclusion to the Mexican kingpin's case. Check out his reasoning ... to Cruz it's basically poetic justice.

Chris Pratt wore a shirt that repped the "Don't Tread On Me" flag, which has now been labeled by some as "racist" and something white supremacists use ... but that's not entirely accurate.

Here's the deal ... Chris was out in L.A. with his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, earlier this week ... and he was wearing a navy t-shirt with the American flag on it and a rattlesnake superimposed, sitting atop the phrase "Don't Tread On Me." It's a mash-up of Old Glory and the Gadsden flag. 

Chris has been criticized over the past few days for repping the flag and the slogan -- originally created during the Revolutionary War as a message from the American colonies to England. It has since been adopted by the Tea Party and other far-right political groups. 

The Gadsden flag has also been used by some white supremacists in recent years -- most notably in 2014 when the bodies of 2 dead police officers were draped with the Gadsden flag that also bore swastikas. It's also been seen in the same company as confederate and Nazi flags.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in 2016 that the flag alone could be viewed as racial harassment in the workplace, depending on the context. While it noted the flag doesn't have racist origins, today it can be "sometimes interpreted to convey racially-tinged messages in some contexts." The agency called for further investigation.

The reason why Chris Pratt is being called out might have to do with a Yahoo UK article that flat-out called his wardrobe a "white supremacist" shirt ... making the leap many other outlets wouldn't.

A bunch of big celebs like a bunch of Presidential candidates ... so they're funding a bunch of candidates with the hope one of them makes a move on January 20, 2021 ... to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

We've done some digging and found the top several Democratic presidential candidates all have their share of celebrity backers, but a handful are sharing the love ... or hedging their political bets.

For instance, according to filings by the 2019 Federal Election Commission ... Barbra Streisand donated $1,000 each last quarter to the campaigns of Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg.

The Katzenbergs -- both Jeffrey and Marilyn -- dropped $2,800 each (the max one-time donation) on those same 6 candidates ... except substitute Kirsten Gillibrand for Klobuchar.

Anna Wintour's donated to at least 4 candidates, so far -- $2,800 to Mayor Pete, Harris and Beto and a grand to Gillibrand.

Shonda Rhimes donated $2,800 to Booker and Warren last quarter, and the same amount to Harris and Gillibrand the quarter before that.

Finally, Ryan Murphy is Team Harris to the tune of $5,500 and Team Buttigieg for $2,800.

Bernie Sanders is noticeably absent from this list, but he's received donations from stars like Shailene Woodley, Josh Hutcherson and Milla Jovovich ... it's just that none of them double-dipped with anyone else as far as we can tell. And, of course, he has the public support of Cardi B.

As for Joe Biden ... his donation numbers from last quarter aren't in yet.

As we told you ... Mayor Pete's got a wide variety of celebs supporting him, as does Elizabeth Warren, and there's still a lot of time for more of that sweet Hollywood money to pour in.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has died.

Stevens died Tuesday night ... the result of a stroke he suffered Monday. 

Stevens was the 3rd longest-serving Justice in the history of the United States Supreme Court. He served from 1975 to 2010.

Stevens was appointed by President Gerald Ford. His successor -- Justice Elena Kagan, who was appointed by President Obama.

Stevens was in the liberal minority during most of his tenure, and famously wrote a number of memorable dissenting opinions.

One of Stevens' biggest -- the 2002 Bush vs. Gore case, in which the Supreme Court effectively put Bush in office. Stevens wrote a dissenting opinion, saying the majority's ruling undermined the people's faith in government and the courts.  

Another big decision ... his dissent in the Citizens United case, which opened up campaign finance donations from wealthy individuals and corporations.

Stevens was a gun control advocate, once writing a dissenting opinion in which challenged the majority's decision to a major gun control law. In 2018, years after Stevens retired, he publicly challenged the Court's reading of the 2nd Amendment in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, saying it was a "relic of the 18th Century."

Stevens served as a Lt. Commander in the Navy in World War II and was awarded a Bronze Star and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Before joining SCOTUS, President Nixon appointed Stevens in 1970 to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Justice Stevens was one of only 2 Supreme Court justices to be divorced -- the other was William O. Douglas.

Stevens died at a Fort Lauderdale hospital with his daughters by his side.

Stevens is survived by his 2 daughters, 9 grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren. 

Kellyanne Conway is taking President Trump's feud with the Democratic Congresswomen to a whole new level ... angrily barking at reporters that POTUS is sick of the America we live in today.

Trump's aide was talking to reporters Tuesday in D.C. about the President's insistence that his tweets demanding Congresswomen, like Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Rashida Tlaib, go back and fix the countries from which they came.

Conway responded to a reporter's question by demanding to know the reporter's ethnicity -- then dropped some spin on him, claiming Trump was doing the same ... simply referring to the Congresswomen's ethnicities. But, then she got heated.

Conway sneered at the reporter and shouted, "A lot of us are sick and tired of this country, of America coming last! To people who swore an oath of office."

While she might have stumbled through the sentence, her message was clear -- Trump's fed up, and thinks the Congresswomen aligning against him are un-American. 

Trump's critics will say his tweets and Conway's statement are obvious examples of dog whistling. If true, it's the angriest dog whistle we've seen yet from the administration. 

Pete Buttigieg may have lost some early steam in his campaign to nab the Democratic nomination for president ... but Hollywood's still got his back big-time.

According to filings by the 2019 Federal Election Commission ... contributions for Mayor Pete have been pouring in from celebs since he announced his 2020 presidential run -- with well over 30 Hollywood types forking over cash to the South Bend Mayor.

Among the names ... Gwyneth Paltrow ($2,800), Anna Wintour ($2,800), Mandy Moore ($3,818.86), Tom Ford ($5,600), Larry David ($2,800), Kevin Bacon ($2,800), Michael J. Fox ($2,800), Frances McDormand ($3,000), Matt Bomer ($2,800), Jeffrey Katzenberg ($2,800), Marilyn Katzenberg ($2,800) and John Stamos ($1,000).

And, there are others who opened their wallets for Pete, including Brad Falchuk, Sean Hayes, Caroline Kennedy, Ryan Murphy, Sarah Silverman, Ted Danson, Sharon Stone and George Takei. 

Looks like $2,800 seems to be the magic number -- the max one-time donation. Funny enough the largest one-time contribution we found in the famous batch of donors -- $6,600 -- was one Cooper Hefner -- the guy running Playboy Enterprises. The smallest donations came in at $250. 

Pete may be behind in the polls, but he's still one of the most popular Democratic candidates -- raising more than $24m this past quarter.

BTW, he's not the only Dem who's got Hollywood in his corner ... Senator Elizabeth Warren has a healthy amount of support as well -- Amy Schumer, Rosie O'Donnell, Scarlett Johansson and others plunked down cash -- raising a total of just over $19m over the course of this last cycle. 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez thinks President Trump is splitting hairs by saying he doesn't have a racist bone in his body -- 'cause he's got plenty of other bigoted body parts.

We got AOC Tuesday roaming the halls of Congress on Capitol Hill, just a day after she and 3 other Democratic congresswomen publicly rebuked Trump, again, for telling them to go back and fix the countries "from which they came." 

With the House of Representatives now preparing a resolution to formally condemn his racist remarks ... the Prez defended himself, saying, "Those Tweets were NOT Racist. I don’t have a Racist bone in my body! The so-called vote to be taken is a Democrat con game. Republicans should not show “weakness” and fall into their trap."

Our photog asked the NY Congresswoman about the "racist bone" comment, and she says he's got a lot more problems in that department than just his bones. Watch.

She also gets into the delayed roll-out for the new Harriet Tubman $20 bill design -- which many people thought Trump's cabinet was responsible for slowing, but it's since been confirmed as something that was never gonna happen in 2020, even on Obama's watch. 

Congresswoman Ilhan Omar says President Trump's xenophobic tweets are disturbing, because while she's heard those very words before -- they've never come from the White House.

The U.S. Rep from Minnesota is not holding her tongue in responding to Trump -- telling a photog Monday in Washington, D.C. ... she's been a citizen for 2 decades, and the other Congresswomen he attacked were born in this country. That aside, she dismissed his comments as old-school racist and xenophobic rhetoric. 

As you know by now ... President Trump said Sunday that 4 sitting minority female members of the House of Representatives should go back and fix the "totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."

Rep. Omar says all 4 Congresswomen plan to introduce a resolution to call out and condemn such messages coming from the Trump administration.

Last but not least, Rep. Omar has a message for all immigrants, especially kids, who are feeling dejected and hurt by the President's words.

Omar, along with Reps Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley -- have all also rebuked Trump on Twitter, and plan to hold a news conference Monday to address the issue.

Wonder why #RacistInChief is trending today? It's because President Trump suggested some American congresswomen to go back and fix the countries "from which they came."

DT went on an especially viscous Twitter rant Sunday morning, which many people have called out as flat-out racist and xenophobic ... including some prominent members of the GOP like Meghan McCain and even ex-Fox News reporter Geraldo Rivera.

Here's what the Prez said ... "So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run."

He went on ... "Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!"

While Trump did not name anyone in particular, many took his tweets to be aimed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Ilhan Omar ... who've been in the news recently for ruffling feathers within the Democratic party and butting heads with Speaker Pelosi.

It sounds like these congresswomen believe the attack was meant for them too, because all of them directly responded to Trump with some choice words.

Michelle Obama is leading the Hollywood life ... at least she did for a day, because TMZ has learned she rented one of the most exclusive and amazing homes in all of the Hollywood Hills.

Real estate sources tell TMZ, the former First Lady rented the home, which is up for sale for $23 million, this past Monday and Tuesday. It's new construction ... aside from a rental here and there, it's never been lived in.

The house has spectacular views of the city. It's called Shark House because there's a tank inside with a bunch of them.

Our sources say there was "incredible security" present ... the owner had to have all security cameras turned off.

One realtor, who's very well connected in the area, tells TMZ the buzz is that Michelle might be scoping out the neighborhood and/or that particular house to set down roots. Now that she and the former Prez are empty nesters, there's nothing keeping them in D.C., and L.A. makes a lot of sense given their recent Netflix deal and other entertainment projects. 

We reached out to brokers Tomer Fridman and Kurt Rappaport who have the listing ... so far, no word back.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is suffering the consequences of a federal court barring President Trump from blocking Twitter users who disagree with him -- 'cause she just got sued.

A guy named Dov Hikind slapped AOC with the lawsuit because he says the freshman Congresswoman blocked him after they Twitter feuded over Israel and other Jewish issues.

In his suit, Dov says in light of a federal appeals court ruling in favor of a bunch of Twitter users -- who said Trump infringed on their First Amendment rights when he blocked them -- the same principle should apply to AOC.

He goes on to list a number of other examples of AOC blocking people, including journalists, over the course of her brief time in Congress ... especially when it comes to tweets about the Green New Deal, of which she's a strong proponent. 

Dov admits he was very critical of AOC ... particularly over her labeling immigration detention centers "concentration camps" ... and he let her know about it "on a regular basis" on Twitter. 

Ross Perot, 2-time presidential candidate and self-made billionaire, is dead.

The Texas software pioneer became a billionaire in 1984 when General Motors bought his company, Electronic Data Systems, for $2.5 billion.  

Perot founded EDS in 1962 with a $1,000 loan his wife floated him. 

Perot ran for president in 1992 and 1996 and was famously portrayed on 'SNL' by Dana Carvey. 

Perot famously would break down American politics and the economy using bar graphs and pie graphs, using his handy pointer.

The conventional wisdom is that Perot was the reason Bill Clinton got elected, because he split the Republican vote when he ran as an independent. The Perot spoiler factor in presidential elections lives to this day.

Perot, who amassed $4 billion, donated a total of $90 million to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

EDS was only one of Perot's businesses. In 1988, he founded Perot Systems Corp., which Dell bought in 2009 for $3.9 billion.

Perot died Tuesday after battling leukemia for 5 months.

Perot is survived by wife of 63 years, Margot. They had 5 children and have 16 grandchildren.

Michelle Obama says she had to fight past a barrage of criticism on her way to the White House, which she attributes to the mountain black women must climb to become beloved.

The former First Lady was talking to Gayle King Saturday night at the Essence Festival, and opened up about how she dealt with being labeled an "angry black woman" in the early days of Barack's first presidential campaign ... as well as flak she caught while in office.

Michelle says folks love her and her hubby now that they're civilians, but for a while there ... she says folks from both sides of the aisle were trying to take her out by the knees, politically speaking, because she was seen as an asset for Barack ... and a threat to rivals.

She puts it like this, "The best way to do it (attack me) was to focus on the one thing they knew people were afraid of, (which) was the strength of a black woman." 

Michelle certainly received her fair share of scrutiny right from the jump. During a speech she gave at a gala in Atlanta back in '08, a Clinton supporter said, "Her speech was very long and inappropriate for that occasion." 

Here's a piece of that speech, which was later described by a journalist as leaving some feeling that she had been "condescending, preaching to a group of achievers about the need to achieve." 

Michelle was also lambasted at times for bucking White House tradition, or for being too flashy ... sometimes even upstaging the President -- like in '09 when she wore a sleeveless Narciso Rodriguez dress during Barack's State of the Union address. 

She talks about that too with Gayle, saying people would say she was "emasculating" Barack. In short, the list of examples goes on and on ... and Michelle hasn't forgotten. 

Talk about rewriting history ... our President just explained how the Revolutionary Army took over JFK ... AIRPORT!!!

POTUS was in the middle of his speech Thursday when  he started to talk about the U.S. Army's success during its storied history. It started okay, as Trump took everyone back to 1775 ... "The continental Army suffered a bitter winter of Valley Forge, found glory across the waters of the Delaware and seized victory from Cornwallis at Yorktown." Then, the huge OOPS.

And, then he re-crafted historical facts and, for sure, technology with this ... "Our Army manned the air, it rammed the ramparts, it took over airports, it did everything it had to do and at Ft. McHenry under the rocket's red glare had nothing but victory."

Here's what's bizarre ... it seems 45 didn't stray from the teleprompter -- is it possible??? Critics pounced with astonishment, maybe mixed with a little secret delight.