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Joe Exotic's team is heading back to our nation's capital for another shot at getting the Tiger King pardoned by President Trump ... and this time, they got an in at the White House.

Sources tell TMZ ... Joe's squad of attorneys and advocates will be flying to Washington D.C. Wednesday to hand-deliver a copy of their official pardon request to a contact they have at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

The hope it seems ... to get the pardon request in front of Trump, and we're told Eric Love -- who's leading the team -- has a contact within the White House, so it would seem this might be their best chance yet to get DT to listen.

Not just that, but it would appear the Joe Exotic squad has more Trump allies than just one -- here's a photo of Eric with Brad Parscale, 45's head of digital operations for his campaign. Eric and the team met Brad in Texas recently, but also ... he's not the contact they have at the White House. Still, knowing BP can't hurt their odds!

Remember, Love and co. rolled up to D.C. a few months ago in a huge bus with a 'Pardon Joe Exotic' wrap. It doesn't appear that venture was all that successful -- Trump hasn't pardoned the guy after all -- but we know Joe's on Trump's radar.

Chasten Buttigieg's coming out experience didn't get off to a good start, but thanks to his parents it turned out well, and speaking of things working out ... he's focused on the bright side of his husband's unsuccessful presidential bid.

Mayor Pete's husband joined "TMZ Live" to tell his story about confiding in his family that he was gay, the difficulty and pain that followed ... and the life-changing call from his Mom that helped them heal.

Chasten tells us he's thankful for his parents' allyship, and describes what has to be done to make sure people like him are protected and supported ... something he says he's striving to do for others.

As for his famous hubby and the disappointment of not becoming the Democratic nominee for Prez ... Chasten says it was a bummer, but it's not all bad.

He points out that they've been able to regain a little anonymity in their lives while still focusing on their dreams and goals, and reminds us that they are both still very young ... and the future is bright.

Of course, Chasten believes the outlook will be much better if a certain person is elected president in November ... you can probably guess who, but watch the clip anyway.

President Trump once hired a Black actor to impersonate Barack Obama, just so he could get him in his office and fire him "Apprentice" style ... and the whole thing is on video.

The scene was reportedly filmed around 2013, and was supposed to air during the 2016 RNC -- but it never saw the light of day ... until just recently, that is. It's cringey -- you see Trump bring his "Faux-Bama" into his office in Trump Tower, and belittle him to no end.

Check it out ... in the clip, you see the actor who is no doubt supposed to be Barack sitting there and just taking Trump's disparaging comments -- which range from bashing his job rates numbers, criticizing how he's handled the economy ... and mentioning how often he golfs.

In the end, DT, sure enough, dishes out his signature slogan ... and BO is sent on his way.

It's awful, frankly, but apparently ... this is something the RNC seriously considered running. At any rate, it's just an example of how much disdain Trump has for Obama ... so claims his ex-attorney, Michael Cohen, who recounted this anecdote in his new book.

The book -- 'Disloyal: A Memoir' -- also included a photo of Trump filming the scene with the Black actor he hired ... simply to humiliate on camera. In other words, yeah ... this happened.

Cohen's book is set to be published for the masses Tuesday, and it reportedly contains several other damning stories about the President, including alleged racist remarks and other sordid comments.

Kanye West's campaign has spent millions trying to get his name on ballots from a bunch of states -- and most of the loot has gone to companies specializing in just that ... but which also have tangential ties to President Trump.

Ye's campaign filed its first financial report Friday with the FEC, and if you tally up his disbursements (what he/his campaign have spent personally) ... it comes to just under $6 million. If you go into the raw data, you can see exactly what he's spent and on what.

Between July and August, Ye and co. spent a little over $4 million on ballot access services -- sending hundreds of thousands to a handful of orgs that ... well, help someone get on a ballot (and quickly). There are three main LLCs he's gone to repeatedly, and some are headed up by guys that either used to work for Trump's campaign ... or were trying to.

One of the ballot companies Kanye hired is Fortified Consulting -- which, according to the Washington Post, has the same address of a consulting firm called the Lincoln Strategy Group ... run by a dude named Nathan Sproul, who worked on DT's 2016 campaign.

Here's another ... Ye dished out about a mil to a company called Atlas Strategy Group -- which is led by another guy named Gregg Keller ... who interviewed to be Trump's campaign manager in 2016. Interestingly, one other BAS company he used was one recently used by Pete Buttigieg ... Millennial Strategies based out of NYC. So ... not total bad optics, right???

Fact is, the money trail appears to lend at least some credence to the theory Kanye has allowed his campaign to be infiltrated by GOP operatives ... Trump ones, at that.

It's not a wonderful day in Mister Rogers' neighborhood, at least not when Donald Trump's in it ... so says his widow, who's got some choice of words for the President.

Joanne Rogers ripped Trump a new one after he decided to host his latest rally in Fred's hometown of Latrobe, PA -- which reportedly broke COVID-19 protocols by hosting more people than the legal limit set at 250 ... instead, the crowd was 7,000 strong.

She tells the Daily Beast she thinks Trump's a "horrible person," adding that she'd probably go into mourning if he's re-elected come November. Joanne says Trump's such a liar she can't trust anything he says, even the smallest thing.

Then comes a scathing line ... "This man is pathologically ill. Mentally ill." BTW, Joanne is a big Biden fan -- saying he's not too old at age 77 (she's 92), adding any gaffes Biden makes while speaking in public are probably a result of a stuttering issue he had when he was younger, rather than any mental ineptitude, as the Trump campaign has often suggested.

Kanye West's bid to appear on the ballot for president in Kentucky and Mississippi is in the works ... but he's not reached the finish line just yet.

The Kentucky Secretary of State's Office says Kanye submitted petitions Friday to get on the ballot as an independent candidate for prez.

State elections officials say they're still reviewing around 19,000 petition signatures submitted by Kanye, to determine if he qualifies to appear on the ballot. Ye needs 5,000 signatures from registered Kentucky voters.

Kanye also filed paperwork Friday to get on the ballot as an independent in Mississippi, according to the Secretary of State's Office in the Magnolia State, which says a decision on whether or not his petition is accepted or denied won't be finalized until Tuesday.

BTW ... Kentucky has 8 electoral votes and Mississippi has 6 electoral votes.

Kanye's attempts to get on the ballots in KY and MS come on the heels of a Thursday ruling from a judge in Arizona, barring him from appearing on the ballot in the swing state despite spending a fortune collecting signatures.

Donald Trump is denying that he declined to visit a military cemetery because he reportedly said, "Why should I go to that cemetery? It's filled with losers."

Trump blasted The Atlantic for its story, claiming Trump made repeated disparaging remarks about soldiers who were killed or injured during battle.

The mag also claimed Trump called the 1,800 soldiers who died during a famous WWI battle "suckers" for getting killed.

Trump claims the reason he skipped a visit to the military cemetery was because his helicopter couldn't fly because of bad weather and the Secret Service didn't feel it was safe to drive there.

As you know, Trump had incredibly harsh words for Senator and military hero John McCain, saying he wasn't a war hero because he was captured during the Vietnam War.

Trump had harsh words for McCain even after the Senator died of brain cancer.

President Trump says cops who use deadly force and shoot someone are exactly like nervous golfers who can't sink the last shot ... seriously, he compared the two.

DT sat down for an interview with FOX News' Laura Ingraham Monday night, and while discussing high-profile police incidents lately -- especially with Black men -- Trump brought up Jacob Blake ... saying the officer who fired 7 times might as well have been Tiger Woods on a bad day.

It was so outrageous and tone-deaf, even Ingraham tried to steer him away, but Trump stuck to his guns ... and said cops who use lethal force are like golfers who "choke."

Trump did question whether the Kenosha officer, Rusten Sheskey, could've done something else other than shoot -- like tackling him -- but the comparison he made is still shocking and utterly lacking in empathy. As you know, Blake is paralyzed from the waist down.

Kanye West says claims the President or the GOP are paying him to run a spoiler campaign are laughable, because he's already wealthier than Donald Trump!

Ye recently sat down with Nick Cannon to do a segment on his podcast, "Cannon's Class," and it looks like they got to talking about controversy they've both been embroiled in recently -- Nick's anti-Semitic remarks and Kanye's presidential run.

Nick says folks have accused Kanye of being a mere puppet of the Republican Party -- and some have even speculated they're shelling out big dough to keep Ye's political ship afloat. Well, he had a perfect comeback for that ... and it came at the expense of his pal, Donald.

You'll have to watch yourself to see how Kanye worded it, 'cause it definitely got a laugh out of Nick (us too, frankly). Bottom line though ... Ye says he's virtually un-bribable.

Nick gets to another point -- which will be explored more when the full episode comes out Tuesday -- and it touches on whether Kanye believes he can actually win this thing ... and whether it's reasonable for him to be running at all. In response, another zinger from Ye.

President Trump's trip to hurricane-ravaged Louisiana capped off with an unseemly sight -- him handing out his autograph to city officials ... telling them to sell it for $10k a pop.

DT flew down to Lake Charles Saturday -- which was just torn through by Hurricane Laura -- and after holding a news conference with some FEMA officials on hand, 45 stuck around to give his John Hancock to fans, notably ... LC officials.

He's done it before, but this time it looks terrible for 2 reasons. First, there are people who lost everything in the storm, so jokes not appreciated. Second, the idea that the President is signing autographs and telling recipients to sell it on eBay ... well, as they say, it is what it is.

A white man wearing blackface pissed off protesters in D.C. and got sucker-punched as cops were leading him away ... which sparked a wild police chase on foot.

A crowd of mostly Black Lives Matter and anti-Trump protesters gathered near the White House late Thursday night after President Trump accepted the presidential nomination to close the Republican National Convention.

However, one guy in blackface stood out like a sore thumb, angering some of the protesters who shouted he was racist and loudly encouraged him to get the hell outta Dodge.

As a few cops were intervening, a man recording the incident shouts "Blackface!" as another man came from behind and punched the guy in blackface.

The officers took off running after the attacker, and caught him on the street after a short pursuit -- but it was a crazy scene as they tried to nab him.

It's unclear if he was arrested, or what happened to the white guy in blackface. We've reached out to law enforcement.

Jacob Blake's father arrived to the "Commitment March" locked armed with supporters ... telling TMZ his son's fighting for his life.

We got Jacob Blake Sr. marching at the 'Get Your Knee Off Our Necks' event Friday at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. and he said his brothers -- and the event itself -- are holding him up.

Jacob's family -- along with the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor -- will be joined by thousands expected to show up for this march. It comes on the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.

As you can see in the pics and video ... most attendees are socially distancing and wearing face coverings.

Martin Luther King III -- who was just 5 years old when he attended his father's speech -- and Rev. Al Sharpton are attending the event to push for an end to police violence, systemic racism and advocate for voting rights. All eerily similar goals to the historic 1963 march.

The event is that much more poignant as it comes on the heels of yet another Black man, Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back 7 times at point-blank range by police in Kenosha -- and Friday's march was organized after the funeral for George Floyd.

Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery's families are also expected to attend.

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, is out and about visiting cornfields and assessing damage from storms ... just days after reports claiming he's on his death bed.

The dictator held an ear of corn and spoke with officials Thursday following Typhoon Bavi hitting the South Hwanghae Province this week ... and the photos obviously fly in the face of claims he's in a coma.

Of course, it's hard to know what to believe when it comes to North Korea and KJU, so it's anyone's guess.

As we reported ... Chang Song-min -- a former aide to the late S. Korean President Kim Dae-jung -- told South Korean media Kim was in a coma and close to death based on intel he'd received.

This news came shortly after N. Korea's own National Intelligence Service said that Kim would be gradually transferring some authority to his younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, to "ease stress."

So, the coma theory could be plausible ... but it might also just be a bunch of corny nonsense.

Jacob Blake's dad says he spoke to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for a full hour and he found it comforting because it felt like he was talking to family.

Blake's father, who's also named Jacob, says he and Blake's mother's were nervous at first to talk with the Democrats' Presidential ticket ... but says Biden and Harris calmed them down. The elder Jacob said, "I don't think people understand the worry of a mother. That's her baby."

He revealed how the conversation went down Friday morning on CNN's "New Day" ... saying it felt "like I was speaking to my uncle and one of my sisters -- literally, literally." Jacob's father added, "It felt like they knew what was going on. And, they didn't act like they were in a hurry to go anywhere. They spent time with us."

When asked if President Trump has reached out, Jacob said, "That's a negative." Trump also never mentioned Jacob Blake's name during his RNC nomination acceptance speech.

Jacob's father, who referred to Biden and Harris as President and Vice President, also touched on his son's leg being shackled to his hospital bed.

As we reported ... Blake's dad was furious after finding out his son was handcuffed to his hospital bed during a Wednesday visit. He questioned why that was even necessary since Jacob's paralyzed from the waist down after taking 7 shots to the back from a cop. Jacob's father said his son asked, "Why did they shoot me so many times?"

Jacob's dad pointed out ... "He can't go anywhere. Why do you have him cuffed to the bed?"

Kanye West is going after the top election official in Ohio for allegedly going out of his way to keep Ye off the presidential ballot ... according to a new lawsuit.

Kanye's suing the state's Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose days after the election head rejected nearly 15,000 signatures and other paperwork submitted by Kanye's campaign, which deemed him unqualified as an independent candidate for Prez.

LaRose cited mismatched info on the documents as the reason for tossing them out, but according to Kanye's suit ... he didn't have the right to do that in the first place.

Kanye's lawyers claim it's LaRose's duty to accept any petition for an independent candidate as long as there is no protest filed and it doesn't break any Ohio laws.

The emergency filing to get Kanye on Ohio's ballot comes as his presidential bid is reeling -- he was booted off the crucial Wisconsin ballot last week, along with coming up short in Montana.

He was also removed from the ballot in his home state of Illinois -- even after dropping at least $30k to get on it -- because election officials said more than half his submitted signatures were invalid.

President Trump's MAGA hats are trenched in the right-wing of the Republic Party ... but Hollywood's flipping that script with one helluva twist.

A bunch of celebs are proudly wearing their own version of MAGA hats ... whether it's Ashton Kutcher, Miley Cyrus or Nev Schulman looking to change it up with Make America Gay Again or Jermaine Dupri craving better taste in music with his Make Hip Hop Great Again.

Check out the pics ... Lakers superstar LeBron James had the best MAGA hat remix when he demanded justice for Breonna Taylor by wearing a fake MAGA hat that reads, "Make America Arrest the Cops Who Killed Breonna Taylor" with the words "Great Again" crossed out.