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Joe Exotic is getting dragged for his recent presidential run announcement, but it ain't by Carole Baskin -- instead, it's by the party he says he's running with.

Angela McArdle, chair and spokesperson for the Libertarian Party, tells TMZ ... "We stand for personal and economic freedom, we are not a landing pad for former reality stars and D-list celebrities." Ouch.

She says the "Tiger King" star hasn't shown he has a full grasp on the ideas of the party, and even calls out his 2018 gubernatorial run as a Libertarian in Oklahoma -- saying that attempt was "just tigers and glitter."

She adds she's very sympathetic to people "being mistreated in prison," but notes that doesn't mean it's right to support someone who's made "poor choices."

Angela tells us, hypothetically, anyone can run for office as a Libertarian, and there isn't a whole lot the party can do to block it -- instead, she urges folks to send libertarian literature to Joe while he's locked away. In her words, "If he's going to be spouting about libertarianism, he might as well get educated about it."

Aside from understanding his party's platform, there's the not-so-small issue of candidate Joe's 20 remaining years on his prison sentence!

Donald Trump's luck in sidestepping criminal charges over the years might be running out ... and the former President himself admits it.

Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, Saturday morning to make the stunning announcement that he expects to be arrested next week. He also ordered his minions to protest his likely indictment from Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg over his alleged participation in the notorious Stormy Daniels hush-money case.

In all caps, Trump wrote, “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!.”

He also referred to Bragg's office as “CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL" while touting his innocence.

As you may know, Bragg has been investigating Trump for purportedly making a $130,000 payment to Daniels back in 2016. Trump allegedly brokered the deal with the porn star to buy her silence during the Presidential campaign that year after she alleged they had an affair. Trump has long denied the accusation.

Daniels recently met with Manhattan prosecutors, according to her attorney, who also said she was prepared to testify if the case against Trump goes to trial.

Bill Maher used St. Patrick's Day to make a point ... the United States of America is (A) not united and (B) on the cusp of becoming the next Northern Ireland.

The 'Real Time' host served up a warning that would be useful to heed -- Our politics have become a religion for the majority of Americans, and the level of hatred toward people embracing "the other" religion has us dangerously close to calamity.

It happened in Northern Ireland, where a politically combustible landscape turned into urban warfare, and Bill sees us headed in that direction.

As he says, Democrats and Republicans are embracing that same level of hatred for those they oppose. The majority of people in both parties don't want their kids to marry someone attached to the opposing party.

And then, he invokes the name of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has called for a "national divorce" -- in other words, creating two countries ... made up of blue states on the one hand and red on the other.

Aside from it being ridiculous, Bill points out there are fundamental disagreements within each political party, so thinking a divorce will create harmony is just stupid.

An Oklahoma City police captain put on a show after he was busted for allegedly driving drunk ... and it was all caught on body cam video -- which he desperately tried to suppress.

Check out the footage, released Thursday by Oklahoma City PD, showing Capt. James French getting pulled over at his home by a police officer last weekend after cops said he was swerving as he drove down the road.

Right from the get-go, French tried to weasel his way out of trouble by identifying himself as a police captain and whispering to the officer to turn off his body cam. But, the cop refused and asked French if he had been drinking because he was slurring his words.

French changed the subject and made a second attempt to get the camera switched off.

But, the officer was in a no-nonsense mood. He sternly said, "I'm not turning my camera off. You got to be kidding me."

Things only got worse for French, who explained that he had consumed 3 to 4 beers at a poker game earlier that night and had drunk his last brewski about 2 hours before he was stopped by the officer.

Then came the dreaded field sobriety tests, which, of course, French failed. During a balance test, French lifted up his leg only to stumble forward. He then asked the cop to switch off the camera a third time.

But, the officer stood his ground again, saying that he had taken an oath to uphold the law and would not show favoritism to anyone -- even the President of the United States.

That didn't stop French from urging the cop to kill the camera one last time. And, predictably, he got another "no" from the officer.

French was eventually placed in handcuffs and booked into the county jail for driving under the influence of alcohol. He was later released after posting bond.

Oklahoma City Police Chief Wade Gourley praised the officer for his professionalism and for following the department's body cam protocols.

Gourley also said that French was put on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

Dr. Fauci helped save the day for a woman who went down during a fancy dinner in D.C. -- and someone caught part of the action on camera.

The nation's most prominent doc -- who was at the forefront during COVID -- was one of many bigwigs at the Gridiron Dinner Saturday ... a black-tie affair where journos, politicos and related company gathered to break bread and talk shop.

At some point, a lady in the crowd collapsed ... injuring herself from the fall, so says speechwriter Chandler Dean -- who detailed the scary incident.

He writes, "Last night at the Gridiron Dinner in DC, maybe 10 feet from me and @sarahagruen, a woman collapsed, hit her head on a table, and was laying on the floor without moving."

He goes on to explain ... "People gather trying to help, but no one is sure what to do. Someone goes to find a doctor. They found one."

That man would be Fauci himself, who's pictured crouching down in his tux and attending to the woman in need. It's not quite clear what exactly he did to treat her, but he was certainly by her side ... and it sounds like she was alright in the end.

Dean later clarified she was able to get to her feet and continued on just fine at the dinner, after a little bit of rest. Another speechwriter, Eric Schnure, chimed in as well ... saying Dr. Fauci even posed with the woman afterward and confirmed she was, in fact, OK.

President Biden did away with Donald Trump's plans for a new look for Air Force One, and instead stuck with the classic aesthetic ... albeit, with a little shade -- a lighter one, that is.

The Air Force announced a new paint design that'll be applied to POTUS' main ride in the sky, and they say JB has decided to stick with the OG colors that have been around since the '60s, when JFK started using the jumbo jet and blue/white pattern we all know today.

As you can see ... Joe opted for a lighter blue. The way the Air Force describes it though is quite sophisticated ... they chalk up the differences this way ... "The light blue on VC-25B is a slightly deeper, more modern tone than VC-25A's robin's egg blue. Additionally, the VC-25B engines will use the darker blue from the cockpit area vice the VC-25A’s robin’s egg blue."

They also say there's no more polished metal on the new AF1 plane(s) -- which are being manufactured by Boeing -- because modern commercial skin alloys don't allow for it. 🤷🏽‍♂️

To the average bear, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference here -- at least not at first glance, anyway -- but the AF is insisting there are slight tweaks that make the new plane more efficient and effective. It's also a bit sleeker in appearance ... we'll give 'em that.

Now, as far as what the ex-Prez wanted a few years back -- namely, a completely different color scheme and design that resembled our national flag -- the Air Force says it wasn't going to work out due to technical difficulties and time. An easy decision for Biden, it seems.

Here's how the AF describes the problem with Trump's preference back then ... "The Air Force previously displayed a red, white, and blue livery for the VC-25B because it had been publicly expressed as a preferred livery in 2019. A thermal study later concluded the dark blue in the design would require additional Federal Aviation Administration qualification testing for several commercial components due to the added heat in certain environments."

TikTok users worried the U.S. government is gearing up to ban the platform might have good reason to feel that way ... according to the U.S. Senator spearheading those efforts.

We got Sen. Mark Warner Thursday as he was leaving FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., and asked what if any advice he had for the millions of influencers making a good living on the app. His answer is, Charli D'Amelio and co. need to be as concerned as politicians are about who's collecting their information.

ICYMI ... Warner and Sen. John Thune introduced a bipartisan bill this week that would give President Biden wide-ranging power to restrict TikTok use, or flat-out ban it, if there's reason to believe China is gathering U.S. citizens' data from TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

The White House has already said it supports the legislation -- which applies to all foreign technologies, not just TikTok -- but Congress has yet to put it to a vote.

Sen. Warner acknowledges there's "a lot of great things happening on TikTok," but says Congress can't be concerned with that ... not if national security hangs in the balance.

IF there's a ban -- as was threatened years ago under the Trump administration -- Warner says TikTok users shouldn't be too concerned, because he's certain a new app would quickly spring up to host the hot new dance challenge.

Mitch McConnell's spokesperson David Popp told CNBC he is being treated for a concussion and will remain in the hospital for a few more days of observation.

Mitch McConnell was hospitalized Wednesday night, this after he took a spill at a Washington D.C. hotel.

The Senate Minority leader was having a private dinner at the Waldorf Astoria when he tripped. According to his rep, David Popp, McConnell fell ... and apparently fell hard.

Popp said the 81-year-old Republican "has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment.”

McConnell's condition was not disclosed, nor were specifics about the fall, but he was not admitted to the hospital for observation ... he was admitted for some sort of treatment.

The Kentucky lawmaker had a similar accident in 2019 when he tumbled to the ground at his Louisville home and fractured his shoulder.

McConnell is the nation's longest-serving Senate Republican leader. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and served as majority leader from 2015 to 2021.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez delayed making payments in regards to her Met Gala appearance two years ago -- this according to the findings of an ethics investigation.

The NY congresswoman has been at the center of a Capitol Hill probe for about a year, and this week ... the results were released. According to the fact-finders, it looks like AOC and/or her staff were quite slow in paying people back ... to the tune of thousands of dollars.

The House Ethics Committee came down hard in their report, saying they have "substantial reason" to believe Rep. Ocasio-Cortez might have violated ethics rules for members of Congress, and maybe even broken federal laws pertaining to gifts and perks she received at the time of the Gala, when she walked the red carpet in a loud "Tax the Rich" dress.

According to them, it's unclear if AOC was ever going to pay people back for the dress, the makeup services, the hotel costs, the accessories, or anything else she received as part of her appearance ... and they go on to claim that the launch of this investigation seems to have spurred her and her staff to act. AOC has since paid off the tab ... about $7,700 all told.

Apparently, several vendors involved in getting AOC all dolled up that day were hounding her for the cash for months ... including the designer of the dress, Aurora James. And, for a while, the circumstances under which she was invited were also murky. Apparently, she was a guest of Vogue's -- but the EIC, Anna Wintour, is obviously deeply involved in prepping the Met Gala ... so it seemed fishy, at first. While it might appear like a conflict of interest, at face value, the Ethics Committee found the invite itself OK ... and aren't dinging her for it.

As for how AOC is responding ... she's pleading ignorance. She says she wasn't aware that these payments were owed and regrets that it ever got to this point. Her attorney also notes that just because the Ethics Committee might've found evidence of possible malfeasance, it doesn't actually mean anything wrong was done ... especially since she's cleared her bill.

Donald Trump still doesn't have quite the right insult to hurl at his political foe Ron DeSantis -- but according to a new report, he's got a bright idea ... one that's members only.

Bloomberg put out a story detailing what they say is going on behind the scenes at Mar-a-Lago lately -- especially in terms of DT executing his comeback on the campaign trail ... and trying to deal with the Florida Gov.'s growing popularity among conservatives/Republicans.

One of the ways Trump reportedly plans on taking RDS down -- assuming he announces a presidential bid -- is to make fun of him ... and one of the of nicknames he's apparently been kicking around is "Tiny D," among others he and his allies are workshopping.

We already know about "Ron DeSanctimonious" -- not to mention "Meatball Ron," which was also a name Trump reportedly floated of late -- but there are others too!

A couple others that DT and co. are considering ... Ron DisHonest and Ron DeEstablishment. Of course, this follows in Trump's tradition of nicknaming his opponents over the years -- there's Sleepy Joe, Lyin' Ted, Little Marco, Crooked Hillary, Pocahontas, Crazy Bernie, Low Energy Jeb and lots of others. The "D" shot at DeSantis, though, is quite the low blow.

Here's the thing ... the Ron factor could prove tough for Trump if they go head to head, and Team DT is taking it seriously. Bloomberg says Trump's got his people trying to dig up dirt on DeSantis and are already carving out an attack plan, like labeling him a "RINO," etc.

President Biden's fully recovered from a brush with cancer he had last month ... according to doctors who are giving him the all-clear.

The White House announced Friday a lesion was found on Biden's chest last month during his annual physical, and after a biopsy, doctors determined it was malignant. White House Dr. Kevin O'Connor said it was basal cell carcinoma, but they were able to remove all the cancerous tissue.

Perhaps most importantly, O'Connor also said, "No further treatment is required."

That's key for the 80-year-old commander-in-chief as he inches closer to officially announcing his bid for re-election in 2024. Biden's critics have already tried to make his age and health an issue.

GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley's suggested mandatory competency testing for all politicians over 75.

A newly-elected Congressman went viral for a full-blown presentation he gave on the House floor, praising Beyoncé -- and we got to the bottom of what was behind it all.

Our photog ran into Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) on Capitol Hill Wednesday ... this after his impassioned speech just hours earlier, where he talked about the end of Black History Month and the start of Women's History Month ... using Queen Bey as the bridge between the two.

Rep. Garcia explained himself perfectly well in his ode to the iconic performer -- rightly noting Beyoncé is, well, awesome, but he elaborated a bit more with us ... breaking down why exactly he felt she was the perfect person to honor.

Watch ... he says Beyoncé achieved that rare feat of being both an entertainer and an activist, which puts her in a different category of celebrity. He also says it's exactly because of this she's worthy enough to be called out in a very good way.

Jon Stewart still can't believe the vitriol that's been spewed at him since he publicly embraced the coronavirus lab leak theory on network TV -- this in the wake of the U.S. government saying it might be legit, but he's far from gloating.

The former 'Daily Show' host discussed the new Energy Dept. findings during the latest episode of his Apple TV+ show. ICYMI, the feds investigation showed COVID-19 might have, in fact, been started and disseminated from a Wuhan lab.

Jon raised that theory during an appearance on Stephen Colbert's show back in 2021 where he ran with what he saw as simply common sense -- namely, the notion the Wuhan Virology Lab might be tied to the start of the pandemic.

JS got slammed for that take ... and now, in reflection, he says he was alarmed by just how tribal the country had become -- politically and otherwise -- and it was evidenced in the sheer amount of rage and hate he got from people he once thought loved him.

He's not necessarily taking a victory lap here, but does hope we can take a lesson from this.

In his view, keep an open mind on things ... especially when, at face value, they make sense. Jon believes that approach is key in navigating modern-world problems -- and he adds, outright censorship is just wrong.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene says she was "attacked" by people inside a restaurant Monday night ... and the motive was purely political.

Greene (R-GA) tweeted she and her assistants were having dinner when they were attacked by an "insane" woman and her screaming adult son.

The Georgia rep said, "They had no respect for the restaurant or the staff or the other people dining or people like me who simply have different political views."

She continued, "They are self righteous, insane, and completely out of control. I was sitting at my table, working with my staff, and never even noticed these people until they turned into demons."

Greene ended with this, "People used to respect others even if they had different views. But not anymore. Our country is gone."

Despite her claims of aggression, Greene did not say the attack got physical, nor did she mention any police involvement.

No stranger to controversy or combativeness ... Greene has been under fire lately. Last week, she was blasted for saying that red and blue states should separate to shrink the federal government.

Woody Harrelson raised more than a few eyebrows during his "Saturday Night Live" appearance ... this after the actor went all conspiratorial on COVID vaccines ... something he's done before.

Harrelson leaned in on COVID as this week's SNL host, delivering a rambling opening monologue about smoking a joint and parking himself against a tree in Central Park while reading the "craziest script."

After 6 minutes, Woody got to the point, and it was sumpin' ...“So the movie goes like this: The biggest drug cartels in the world get together and buy up all the media and all the politicians and force all the people in the world to stay locked in their homes. And people can only come out if they take the cartel’s drugs and keep taking them over and over.”

He wrapped it up this way ...“I threw the script away. I mean, who was going to believe that crazy idea? Being forced to do drugs? I do that voluntarily all day.”

Social media wasn't amused. TV producer, Lee Goldberg tweeted, “Thank you, @nbcsnl, for Woody Harrelson’s insipid anti-vax monologue.”

A second person wrote, "That's NOT COOL! I lost the best mother figure to me & my sister that we had who died only 4hrs after contracting the f***ing virus!"

Another person chimed in, "This Guy IS a joke."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made his way onto country star Brad Paisley's new song ... and as Americans seem to be losing passion in helping the war-torn country, you gotta admit ... it's brilliant on Zelensky's part to garner some support where it counts.

Brad dropped the track "Same Here" Friday, exactly one year since the war in Ukraine began -- and he draws a ton of similarities between the USA and Ukraine ... while pointing out how absurd our problems are when compared to what's happening overseas.

Zelensky is featured in the back half of the song, via a phone call between Brad and the Prez ... listing numerous ways both countries are alike.

As you know, America's pretty divided on our ongoing support for Ukraine, especially as President Biden announced a continuation of support this week. Republicans are more inclined than Democrats to pull the plug on Ukranian support, and country music has a big Republican base of fans, so Zelensky is hitting his target audience.