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This is unusual nowadays, but senators on both sides of the aisle are in agreement on something -- President Trump can float the idea of election delays all he wants ... it ain't happening.

We got Sen. Tim Kaine -- a Virginia Democrat and former VP candidate -- on Capitol Hill Thursday, and he reassured voters ... POTUS simply doesn't have the authority to push the November 3 election date.

Now, he admits it might be a challenge convincing the Prez of that, but he also thinks POTUS might have an ulterior motive for raising the issue in the first place.

Sen. Kaine has faith members of Congress -- including Republicans -- will make sure the election goes down as scheduled, and Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana lends credence to that.

Cassidy is a GOP'er and went a little softer on Trump, naturally, and attempted to explain where the Prez was coming from when he tweeted, "Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

But, he still came to the same conclusion -- Sen. Cassidy tells us there's no need to delay the election, and he'll support the winner, because the U.S. Constitution tells him so.

As we reported ... Trump's using the false notion of rampant fraud connected to mail-in voting as the basis for all this postponement buzz.

Rep. John Lewis' home-going was a rousing, inspiring ceremony -- highlighted by President Obama's eulogy which took aim at President Trump's actions ... while also urging all Americans to vote.

The roughly 3-hour funeral in Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church featured speeches from President George W. Bush, President Clinton and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ... who all spoke before Obama delivered his eulogy for the longtime Congressman and Civil Rights leader.

Obama went after Trump without naming him, saying, “Even as we sit here, there are those in power who are doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting by closing polling locations and targeting minorities, and students with restrictive ID laws and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision; even undermining the postal service in the run-up to an election that’s going to be depending on mail-in ballots so people don’t get sick."

He also invoked George Floyd's memory saying, "Today we witness with our own eyes kneeling on the necks of black Americans" as well as the civil unrest that's been going down for more than 50 straight days in Portland.

Obama had opened his tribute to Lewis, saying ... “It a great honor to be back in Ebenezer Baptist Church in the pulpit of its greatest pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to pay my respects to perhaps his finest disciple.”

Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush sat near the front row as they paid their respects. Bush spoke first, saying ... “We will never forget joining [John] in Selma, Alabama for the 50th anniversary of his march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where we got to watch President Barack Obama thank John as one of his heroes."

President Clinton was up next and warmly quipped, "I must say, for a fella that got his start speaking to chickens John’s gotten a pretty finely organized and orchestrated and deeply deserved sendoff this last week.”

Clinton closed his remarks, saying ... “I would infect every American with whatever it was that John Lewis got as a 4-year-old kid and took through a lifetime to keep moving and keep moving in the right direction and keep bringing other people to move and to do it without hatred in his heart."

The funeral closed with the gospel family the Winans performing an original song, "Good Trouble," written for John Lewis, who famously urged young people to "get into good trouble" ... by being activists.

President Obama had awarded Lewis the Medal of Freedom in 2011, and said during that ceremony ... "Generations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind."

The funeral of Congressman Lewis, who represented Georgia's 5th Congressional District for 17 terms, is the final farewell in a series of remembrances since his July 17 death from pancreatic cancer.

The tributes began in Troy, Alabama where he was born, and carried on to Selma's infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge. His body was then flown to D.C. for a memorial in the Capitol rotunda Monday, and finally ... his public viewing Wednesday at the Georgia State Capitol, which drew thousands to pay their respects.

To coincide with his funeral, Rep. Lewis sent an essay to The New York Times 2 days before his death to be published today. In his last words, Lewis called for Americans to "answer the highest calling of your heart and stand up for what you truly believe."

He said he was inspired in his final days by the social justice movement following the killing of George Floyd and others, saying ... "You filled me with hope about the next chapter of the great American story when you used your power to make a difference in our society."

The Congressman ended with this ... "walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide."

Herman Cain, once a GOP Presidential hopeful, has died from COVID-19 ... Cain contracted the coronavirus after attending Trump's Tulsa rally.

The businessman and politician's death was announced Thursday on his website. A statement read, "Herman Cain -- our boss, our friend, like a father to so many of us -- has passed away."

Cain fell ill shortly after attending President Trump's rally in Tulsa on June 20 -- he was hospitalized for about a month ... getting oxygen treatments.

Cain posed for a photo, without a mask, at the rally with a caption that read, "Here’s just a few of the #BlackVoicesForTrump at tonight’s rally! Having a fantastic time!"

Remember, at the time of the rally, Oklahoma was in grips of a spike in coronavirus cases. Afterward, reports surfaced that the Trump campaign asked Tulsa venue organizers to remove social distancing signs.

Trump later canceled an Alabama rally out of fear of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Cain's Twitter account had kept his followers up-to-date on his condition, and a post on Monday -- just 3 days ago -- read, "doctors say his other organs and systems are strong" and that "re-strengthening the lungs is a long and slow process, and the doctors want to be thorough about it." The post added, "He really is getting better, which means it is working."

Cain, who Trump once considered to run the Federal Reserve, is one of the highest-profile public victims of the coronavirus.

He was 74.

The handwriting is now on the wall ... Donald Trump is revealing his plan to stay in office beyond January 20, 2021, and he wants to do so without even having an election.

Trump, who has made false claims about voter fraud, just tweeted, "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

So, Trump is trying to start a groundswell to put off an election where polls show him way behind Joe Biden. The claims of voter fraud have no foundation ... nevertheless, he's been beating that drum for months.

So, why would Trump want to delay the election? Well, we just got word on GDP for the second quarter, and it reached historic proportions, plunging more than 32%. It's pretty obvious Trump wants to stall, hoping for a vaccine and an economic rebound.

The big worry ... Trump might as well just come out and say it ... he's not gonna leave The White House willingly. Bill Maher has been saying that for months, and the evidence is mounting that he's right.

In fact, in 2018, Trump reportedly said this about Chinese President Xi holding the position for life ... "And look, he was able to do that.  I think it's great.  Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday."  So scary.

Kanye West's self-proclaimed running mate -- though she's yet to confirm this herself -- has returned online with her "spiritual coaching" site ... but gives no indication she's campaigning for West/Tidball 2020.

Michelle Tidball was name-dropped by Kanye as his VP pick in his Forbes interview -- following his surprise July 4 announcement that he's running for Prez -- but very little was known about her ... and her website got yanked shortly afterward.

As we first told you ... Michelle's site, Yarash.org, touted her as a "Biblical life coach" but also included some odd takes on mental health -- such as doing your dishes and making your bed to combat mental illness.

The Yarash site is back up, and though it's been revamped and edited ... it STILL doesn't mention anything about Kanye, being his Veep, or anything political at all really.

Instead, the site is gussied up with new animated graphics, an autumnal color scheme, Hebrew-style font, and tighter copy ... but features her same smiling portrait.

Michelle's old teleconferences and Bible study sessions -- where we discovered her mental health advice -- have been taken down. Her bio has been toned down quite a bit too ... but she's still advertising 50-minute life-coaching sessions for $65.

The Wyoming woman recently stated Kanye was doing "fine" and there was nothing to worry about ... amid his erratic behavior and wild Twitter rants, but she dodged any VP talk.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will be recovering in a hospital bed for the rest of this week after undergoing another medical procedure.

RBG's office says she is resting comfortably at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City after undergoing a minimally invasive, non-surgical procedure Wednesday. Doctors revised a bile duct stent she got last August.

The famously tough cookie is expected to be released from the hospital by the end of the week, according to the Supreme Court, which says RBG's doctors point out stent revisions are common occurrences and the non-surgical procedure was performed to minimize the risk of future infection.

The 87-year-old's hospital trip is her second this month and comes on the heels of Ruth announcing her cancer returned and she recently completed a round of chemotherapy.

The body of late congressman John Lewis arrived and is now lying in state at the Georgia State Capitol ... drawing long lines of constituents looking to pay their final respects.

The procession -- led by a score of police escorts -- weaved its way through downtown Atlanta Wednesday before making its stopping at the Gold Dome for an hours-long public viewing of the closed casket in the State Capitol's rotunda. Lewis, who'd been in Congress since 1987, is only the fourth Black person to lie in state in the Georgia Capitol -- the others being Coretta Scott King, Senator Leroy Johnson and civil rights icon/Lewis' longtime friend, C.T. Vivian.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms were among the dignitaries who greeted the honor guard that arrived with Lewis' body.

The Civil Rights leader will be laid to rest Thursday ... with his funeral taking place at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church beginning at 8 AM PT. Barack Obama will reportedly deliver the eulogy, and former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are expected to attend.

The funeral will mark the end of a week-long memorial from the nation's capital to Selma ... where the procession traveled across the infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge. That's where a 25-year-old Lewis, and others fighting for voting rights in 1965, was brutalized by cops who fractured his skull.

Lewis and Obama walked hand-in-hand across the bridge back in 2015 on the 50th anniversary of the brutal assault.

Barbie's new line of dolls meant to inspire all girls to raise their voices and get interested in public service quickly got political when Donald Trump Jr. got involved ... but the toy company's shutting him down.

Shortly after the Barbie 2020 Campaign Team -- made up of 4 diverse dolls including a candidate, a campaign manager, a fundraiser and a voter -- was unveiled to "expose girls to public leadership roles and pique their interest in shaping the future" ... Don Jr. used it to take a shot at Democrats.

Don tweeted ... "'Voter' Barbie must be a Democrat because she’s already wearing an 'I Voted' sticker and yet she’s got another ballot in her hand."

Not the most original joke, and according to the makers of Barbie ... it's also inaccurate.

A Mattel spokesperson tells TMZ ... "Barbie is not, and has never been, affiliated with a political party. Barbie has always encouraged girls to stand up for what they believe in and shows them they can be anything."

The Mattel rep adds ... "This doll set highlights a range of leadership roles to pique their interest in shaping the future and raise their voices – from the podium to the polls. This set also provides a tool to allow families to have conversations around important events and cultural moments through play."

Of course, Don Jr.'s joke comes as President Trump continues to push claims mail-in voting is fraudulent and will only benefit Democrats in the upcoming election.

Truth is, there are no facts to back that up ... just like Jr.'s jab at Barbie.

Georgia Senator David Perdue has pulled an ad that made his Jewish, Democratic opponent's nose look bigger -- claiming it was a flub and not an anti-Semitic trope.

The Facebook ad featured photos of both Jon Ossoff, who's running in Georgia to take Perdue's seat -- as well as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (who's also Jewish) -- with the slogan, "Democrats Are Trying to Buy Georgia!"

In other words, a Jew with an artificially big nose is trying to buy an election. But, Perdue says no anti-Semitism here.

Ossoff responded, saying ... "Sitting U.S. Senator David Perdue's digital attack ad distorted my face to enlarge and extend my nose. I'm Jewish. This is the oldest, most obvious, least original anti-Semitic trope in history. Senator, literally no one believes your excuses."

For his part, Sen. Perdue said the ad was made through a third party, and that any distortion to Ossoff's appearance was an accident. They removed the ad this week.

His campaign added, "Anybody who implies that this was anything other than an inadvertent error is intentionally misrepresenting Senator Perdue's strong and consistent record of standing firmly against anti-Semitism and all forms of hate."

Kanye West is getting super serious in his bid for the White House ... his campaign is beefing up its staff and bringing in tons of folks with political know-how.

Sources close to Kanye tell TMZ ... Yeezy's hired a crack team of political advisors and people with experience to help him navigate how to get on the ballot in more states.

We're told Kanye's advisors are hiring people to work on the campaign. They're also recruiting volunteers, and they've contracted third-party organizations to assist with spreading campaign awareness and getting boots on the ground across the United States.

Our sources say the campaign's main objective right now is gathering enough signatures to get Kanye on the ballot in each of the remaining states.

We're told volunteers are canvassing for signatures in West Virginia -- hitting popular spots like restaurants and shopping malls -- and campaign staffers are working in New York ahead of Thursday's deadline to qualify for the ballot.

In West Virginia, the Secretary of State's office tells us Kanye needs 7,144 signatures by Monday to get on the ballot. If Yeezy gets enough signatures, it will trigger a review to verify every person is indeed a registered voter.

TMZ broke the story ... Kanye's facing a huge hurdle back in his home state, Illinois, where there are several objections over the validity of signatures gathered to get Ye on that state's ballot.

As we reported ... Yeezy's already submitted paperwork to get on the ballot in New Jersey, Oklahoma, Illinois and Missouri.

Joe Biden seems to have one particular person in mind for his VP running mate ... it's Sen. Kamala Harris, and there are clues from his notes that accidentally became public.

The presumptive Democratic candidate was taking questions from reporters Tuesday, and at one point ... one of the photogs captured a close-up shot of the notes he had on him, which featured a bullet-point list of topics and highlights ... including a whole section on Harris.

In fact, KH was the first item on Biden's notepad -- under her name were a few things he (or his staff) wanted him to address ... first being, "Do Not Hold Grudges." After that, Biden touched on the fact she's campaigned with him and his wife, Jill, she was talented, she'd be a great help to the campaign and he has great respect for her.

There was talk early on that Biden would pick Harris if he got the nom, but lots of people thought that plan was 86'd after the Senator went after the former VP for his civil rights record during the first debate. That said, Harris is one of the few contenders with executive experience -- She was the D.A. in San Fran and CA Attorney General.

But, there's this ... Biden's top campaign adviser who's helping vet candidates, Chris Dodd, didn't like the fact Harris had "no remorse" when confronted about the way she went after JB. Dodd reportedly considered her attack a cheap shot, and apparently wanted Harris to apologize for it or something, but she didn't. Her reported response, a chuckle and "that's politics."

Rep. Maxine Waters fears what's going on in Portland could be a sign of trouble to come in November ... IF President Trump loses the election, and refuses to give up power.

The Congresswoman, who was on Capitol Hill, was super concerned over AG William Barr's testimony, in which he supported the aggressive federal response to the protests.

Even more ominous than Barr ... Trump refusing to say he'd accept the results of the election, win or lose, and even more ominous ... whether he'd hand over the reigns of power.

Rep. Waters makes it clear ... she's worried her fears could become a reality, especially since neither Trump nor Barr will squarely say the President will accept the election results.

Waters says there's evidence Trump won't go willingly if he loses ... as she puts it, he's a wanna-be dictator whose methods follow a long line of dictators. And, she thinks the federal presence in Portland may be a dry run for things to come in November.

Kanye West's bid to appear in the NJ ballot for president is full steam ahead ... TMZ's learned he's filed the necessary paperwork to do just that.

We've learned Ye submitted petitions Monday with 1,327 signatures in his quest for a presidential run. In the Garden State, the requirement for Independent candidates to file for president is 800 signatures. Ye clearly surpassed that ... but from now until July 31 at 5 PM, there's an objection period where someone can challenge the validity of individual signatures submitted. If there are no objections, Kanye gets a place on the ballot.

This, of course, all sounds too familiar. TMZ broke the story ... he's facing a huge hurdle in his home state of Illinois after several objections over the validity of signatures gathered to get on that state's ballot. As we reported ... one of the objectors says he reviewed roughly 3,200 signatures but claims to have found less than 1,000 valid signatures in Kanye's docs. A hearing is set for next week on that issue.

As we've reported ... Kanye's already submitted paperwork to get on the ballot in Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Kanye West's bid to get on the Illinois ballot for President has just hit a bump in the road -- as in, serious objections about the petition signatures he's submitted.

TMZ's learned there have been 3 objections filed with the Illinois Board of Elections ... which means it will now evaluate the validity of the signatures on his petition, and then hold a special meeting to decide whether Kanye's name gets printed on the state's ballots.

Here's how it works ... officials tell us anyone can request to take a closer look at Kanye's 412 petition papers he submitted last week and every single signature can be objected to for various reasons -- including possible duplicates and/or use of fake names.

As for the objectors themselves ... we spoke to one, Sean Tenner, who says after reviewing roughly 3,200 signatures, he claims to have found less than 1,000 valid signatures in Kanye's docs. Sean believes the rest are invalid, but wouldn't specifically say why.

BTW, Kanye needs 2,500 valid signatures to remain on the state's presidential ballot.

Sean says he was motivated to investigate the petition signatures because he was fuming after Kanye's controversial Harriet Tubman comments.

We're told the board will now hold the special board meeting next week, and assign an officer to review evidence and decide Ye's fate on his home state's ballot.