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Tan Mom's run for a U.S. Senate seat is due, in no small part, to some of Ron DeSantis' policies -- she tells us some of Florida's most controversial issues prompted her decision to run ... and to do it as a Republican.

The bronzed mother of 5, whose real name is Patricia Krentcil, joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live," saying things like books being banned in FL and Gov. DeSantis' restrictions on Medicaid were enough to get her to step up to the plate.

We also talked to her about her choice to run as a Republican, even though she's openly opposing the party line on several issues ... particularly in Florida.

Patricia says she's just always been a Republican, but doesn't think her views about certain topics require her to change parties.

She says she's hoping she can break out of her "Tan Mom" brand, and wants her fellow conservatives to try to see things the way she does.

Kanye West is again connected to presidential politics because his former publicist has been indicted along with Donald Trump for allegedly engaging in an organized conspiracy to overturn election results in Georgia.

Trevian Kutti, once a publicist for Kanye and R. Kelly, is on video trying to strongarm election worker Ruby Freeman to confess to police she engaged in election fraud by tampering with ballots -- a claim that has proven false.

Kutti allegedly went to Freeman's home and ID'd herself as a crisis manager, and somehow got the election worker to travel with her to the police station, where she is seen on body cam video, threatening Freeman with jail time.

Kutti has been charged with 3 crimes, including violating the RICO statute. A RICO conviction has a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison.

Vivek Ramaswamy — a 2024 Republican Presidential candidate — is beating Donald Trump in at least one category — rapping!!

The fresh-faced businessman turned politician hit the stage at the Iowa State Fair during a campaign stop Saturday — and he wowed the packed crowd by belting out Eminem’s 2002 hit, “Lose Yourself.”

Check out the video … Vivek just kills it, grabbing the mic and spitting out the lyrics Slim Shady-style as the song played over the sound system. The fans loved it ... and some probably thought Vivek gave Em a little run for his money as a hip hop artist.

Before launching into his performance, Vivek revealed to the audience Em’s tune is his fave on the campaign trail; he always strolls out on stage to it, but this is the first time everyone has gotten a good hard look at Vivek's musical chops and he's pretty kick-ass.

Vivek is also kicking butt in the polls ... some recent assessments put Vivek in third place in his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Senator Dianne Feinstein was at the hospital, TMZ has learned, after tripping and falling Tuesday in her home city of San Francisco.

We do not know how serious her injuries are ... only that she was taken to a nearby hospital. We're told she returned home Tuesday night.

The 90-year-old Senator has struggled with health issues over the last year. She was absent from the Senate for nearly 3 months earlier this year dealing with shingles, Ramsay Hunt syndrome and encephalitis.

She's also appeared confused ... telling a reporter upon her return she wasn't absent at all. She's also appeared confused at recent Senate hearings.

There have been quiet talks among Democrats and louder talks among Republicans for her to step down.

We reached out to the Senator's officer for comment ... so far, no word back.

Originally Published -- 6:36 AM PT

A woman on a family fishing trip in the Florida Keys sniffed out 70 pounds of cocaine floating in the coastal waters.

But this wasn't your average woman ... turns out the Mayor of Tampa made the shocking discovery with her loved ones off the Middle Keys City of Marathon.

Mayor Jane Castor, her brother, her son and his girlfriend spotted the package layered with bricks of cocaine bobbing in the water on July 23, according to a report Tuesday in the Tampa Bay Times.

Castor knew immediately what it was, thanks to her years of narcotics training as an ex-cop. She was also the former Tampa police chief.

Castor and her family lifted the bundle of blow onto their boat and transported it back to a dock near their vacation rental home.

The mayor then called the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, prompting deputies to immediately respond with two U.S. Border Patrol agents to seize the drugs.

Mitch McConnell -- one of the most powerful politicians in the country -- was drowned out by calls to retire during a speech in Kentucky over the weekend.

The 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader -- who has been battling health issues for several years -- was giving a speech at the Fancy Farm Picnic in his home state of Kentucky Saturday when the crowd turned on him BIG TIME.

Check out the video ... McConnell -- a staunch Republican -- was taunted by his constituents in the heavily red state. For over a minute, people were loudly chanting, "Retire," while booing him.

But McConnell didn't seem to let it bother him as he carried on, finishing his address. The only problem was ... you couldn't hear anything he was saying over all the jeers from the audience.

McConnell has been struggling with health problems, which have spilled out into the open. During a recent press conference, McConnell froze up mid-sentence at a podium and stood there for more than 30 seconds with a blank stare on his face.

Former President Donald Trump just pulled up for his latest indictment ... in which prosecutors say he tried to overthrow the 2020 election, leading to the January 6 riots.

Trump sat in the back of a black SUV Thursday in D.C. as it rolled up to the courthouse. It's tough to see him because of the vehicle's tint ... but he appeared to give a wave. BTW -- you'll be able to see him better if you hold your screen at a distance.

As we reported, DT's facing 4 new counts -- conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights (to vote).

Special Counsel Jack Smith spoke about Trump's latest indictment when it was unsealed on Tuesday ... saying Trump's involvement in the January 6 riots is a big part of their case. He was sounding pretty certain the feds have built a solid case against the former Prez.

You may recall, while President Trump was impeached for inciting the riots, he was acquitted when his case reached the Senate floor.

Trump took to Truth Social Tuesday -- before his new indictment went public -- to get ahead of the noise ... calling Smith "Deranged," saying the indictment is BS, and calling himself "your favorite President" in true Trump fashion.

Trump's already facing 2 other criminal cases ... one in NY state court about his alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels before he was elected, and another in federal court in Florida about his alleged efforts to conceal classified documents he took with him after leaving the White House.

His triple indictment doesn't seem to be slowing down his campaign for the 2024 election ... and we learned Trump could lose in court -- even get locked up in prison -- and still serve if elected. Imagine that.

Donald Trump has another criminal case on his hands -- another grand jury has indicted him, this time for attempting to undermine the 2020 election with his actions on, before and after January 6, 2021.

The ex-President's been hit with 4 new counts -- conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct and official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights (to vote).

Trump took to Truth Social to beat the feds to the punch, announcing he would be indicted before the feds could drop the bombshell. Trump wrote, "I hear that Deranged (Special Counsel) Jack Smith, in order to interfere with the Presidential Election of 2024, will be putting out yet another Fake Indictment of your favorite President, me, at 5:00 P.M."

He adds, "Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why did they wait so long? Because they wanted to put it right in the middle of my campaign. Prosecutorial Misconduct!"

Remember, Trump has two other criminal cases that are currently pending -- one pertains to his alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, and another is tied to his classified documents scandal post-presidency down in Florida.

In both instances, Trump has pleaded not guilty. Ya gotta assume, he'll do the same here.

Trump was impeached over his role in the Jan. 6 riot -- but was ultimately acquitted in Congress when the proceedings reached the Senate. He very memorably encouraged protesters that day to head on over to the Capitol, and was slow to tell them to stand down.

Interestingly, Trump's been full steam ahead on the campaign regardless of his legal woes -- he continues to hold rallies, including one this past weekend, as the 2024 election nears.

Trump has been summoned to appear in federal court Thursday in D.C. to face the new charges.

President Biden is all about the Vitamin D in the summertime -- as seen here ... where's losing his shirt and soaking up some rays in his native Delaware.

Joe was feeling sandy Sunday in Rehoboth Beach, where he's got a home. In photos obtained by TMZ, you can see POTUS and FLOTUS making their way out to the shore with a bunch of items in hand ... and a ton of Secret Service agents in tow, too.

JB was in his usual beach attire -- showing up with some trunks, a tee, and a ball cap. Eventually, he took off his top and went skins for the outing ... flaunting his gramps bod!

It looks like he was briefly out in the heat, but the plopped down in a chair to chill in the shade. Like we said, Jill was right next to him ... and they appeared preoccupied reading.

This is a pretty similar vibe to what they were doing a few weeks ago, right on the heels of the cocaine discovery ... which ended up going unsolved. You'll recall, at the time ... Joe was also doing some reading then -- and the missus could be seen throwing on some SPF.

No sign of any other family members here, including Hunter ... who continues to loom over the President's term. There's more that's expected to emerge in the coming days about Hunter -- including some potentially damaging testimony in Congress from an ex-biz partner.

Oliver Stone thinks President Biden is leading us right into a looming Armageddon as it relates to Russia's war with Ukraine -- while also lamenting ever having voted for the guy.

The famed director went off on POTUS during a recent interview he did with Russell Brand -- who has tended to lean right in his political views these days. That was echoed in Oliver's diatribe ... where he accused Biden of being on the verge of starting World War III.

Check it out ... OS says Joe is repeating historical missteps with his foreign policy, especially as it relates to how he and his administration are dealing with the ongoing conflict.

He doesn't really get into specifics -- at least not in this lone clip -- but he seems to be alluding to the fact that the U.S. continues to support Ukraine through funding and weaponry ... which he seems to think is only further antagonizing Putin, maybe for the worse.

Stone also had this to say about having buyer's remorse on election night ... "I voted for him – I made a mistake, I was thinking he was an old man now that he would calm down, that he would be more mellow and so-forth, I didn’t see that at all. I see a man who maybe is not in charge of his own administration. Who knows."

Rep. Tim Burchett says he's determined to get to the bottom of several disturbing UFO allegations ... and that means digging deeper into the bombshell claims that just came out in Congress.

The U.S. Congressman from Tennessee joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live," and we asked how he and other lawmakers intend to follow up on former Air Force intelligence officer David Grusch's suggestion murders were committed as part of a government conspiracy to hide evidence of extraterrestrials ... including recovered spacecraft and non-human lifeforms piloting them.

Rep. Burchett says he's hoping to get into a super secret room with Grusch to get specific details on who was allegedly killed as part of a UFO conspiracy ... and to get more info about what kind of alien craft our government might have in its possession.

Remember ... Wednesday's historic Congressional hearings on UFOs included some bombshell testimony from Grusch, and Burchett explains the meaning behind a term that kept coming up -- "SCIF," short for Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility -- and why it's so important here.

Rep. Burchett is among the lawmakers most determined to share information on UFOs, and possibly alien life -- and he says some of his colleagues have actually seen UFOs, but were scared to come forward.

President Biden is gearing up for an epic battle to retain The White House, but we've learned he's put the brakes on going to a critical area to fill his campaign coffers -- Los Angeles.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Biden will not come to the L.A. area until the actors' and writers' strikes are resolved. There's still 15 months left before the election, but with strikes that seem to have no end in sight, it could become problematic.

Biden has a long history of supporting unions, and the Hollywood strikes are no different. He said back in May, "I sincerely hope the writers' strike in Hollywood gets resolved and the writers are given a fair deal they deserve as soon as possible."

Here's how significant L.A. and, California is to Biden's campaign. He raised more money in CA than any other state in 2020 -- $105.5 million -- and that represented 21% of money raised for the campaign.

His spokesperson said earlier this month, "The President believes all workers, including actors, deserve fair pay and benefits," adding, "The President supports workers' right to strike."

L.A. County is a huge part of that equation. In 2020 Biden held 20 virtual fundraisers, some at $25,000 a head. One fundraiser alone raked in $2.7M. Celebs like Cher, Jennifer Garner, Barbra Streisand and Cyndi Lauper hosted some of the events.

Our sources say some very rich folks are already offering their homes for big Biden fundraisers this time around ... again, for $25,000 a pop. But we're told, "Nothing has been scheduled. There are no events planned so far, but they will happen when the strikes are over."

We're told Biden feels it's unseemly to raise this kind of money from the Hollywood community when lots of industry folks are struggling.

An industry source with decades of experience in many areas of Hollywood is convinced ... this strike will be over by the end of the year and probably before. But the clock is starting to tick.

Sen. Mitch McConnell is insisting he's fine, but an odd moment in the middle of a news conference says otherwise ... as the Senate Minority leader stopped talking mid-sentence, and stood still as a rock at the podium.

The Senator was speaking to reporters Wednesday on Capitol Hill when he suddenly stopped talking and stared blankly ahead. After more than 30 seconds of standing still without blinking or opening his mouth ... he was escorted off camera.

The 81-year-old Kentucky lawmaker later returned to the podium to answer questions from reporters, and addressed what had just happened to him, saying ... "No, I'm fine."

While it's unclear what happened to Mitch here, it's worth noting he was hospitalized back in March after tripping and falling at a Washington D.C. hotel, and was treated for a concussion. He denied the fall having anything to do with today's incident.

CNN's Manu Raju says one of McConnell's aides told him the Senator was feeling "light-headed," and stepped aside for a moment.

President Biden's dog Commander doesn't have to be a recidivist biter ... a former Secret Service agent -- who's trained other White House pups -- says the pup can be trained to stop sinking his teeth into people.

Marshall Mirarchi was in the Secret Service's K-9 division during the Obama administration -- when Biden was VP -- and he joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" to explain why Commander's bitten 7 people over a 4-month span, and to tell us what the hell can be done about it.

Marshall says Commander absolutely can have the urge to bite trained out of him ... offering up his own dog, Hurricane, as a living, breathing example of a dog that can go from harmless to menace on command.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre brushed off Commander's biting problem Tuesday as a casualty of the stressful conditions at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

That's not just spin, according to Marshall -- he confirmed there are plenty of stressors for a White House dog, but he also believes the Secret Service can get the German shepherd to stop attacking folks.

Of course, Marshall says it's going to take a lot of training and patience to see a change in Commander ... but he's confident it can be done, and that the Secret Service has the right agents for the job.

For what it's worth, Marshall trained dogs for Barack Obama and G.W. Bush, and there were no known biting incidents with them. He says that's partly due to differences in breeds, but the guy clearly knows his stuff.

Judge Greg Mathis got into it with some Los Angeles City employees ... but there are drastically different stories from each side as to just how intense things escalated.

Law enforcement sources tell us an employee from the L.A. Dept. of Water and Power made a report Tuesday accusing Mathis of threatening workers with a gun after a heated confrontation. According to the employee, Mathis got pissed after they asked him to move his vehicle -- words were exchanged -- and things escalated to the point of Mathis allegedly flashing and pointing his gun at the workers.

However, we spoke to Mathis, who has a much different story. Mathis tells us the employees were actually blocking his vehicle in, and he was unable to pull out of his driveway.

Mathis says one of the employees got smart with him when he stood in the street, saying if he didn't move, he'd get run over by their work truck. Mathis took that as a threat, and tells us he informed he had a weapon -- though he says he NEVER showed the gun, let alone pointed it at anyone.

Eventually, both sides cooled off ... and the LADWP employees continued on with their work further down the street.

President Biden's pooch Commander is not some sweet, loving pet, but rather a complete menace to society.

Commander -- a two-year-old German shepherd -- went on a four-month rampage, biting SEVEN people, including at least two Secret Service agents, according to an internal Secret Service memo obtained by the New York Post.

The document states ... Commander allegedly sank his teeth into one agent's arm and thigh, sending the uniformed officer to the hospital for treatment.

On a second occasion, Commander was accused of getting toothy with another Secret Service member, biting their arm and hand during movie night at the White House.

A third attack occurred at Biden's Wilmington, Delaware home, where Commander gnawed on a security technician. And, of course, Commander allegedly carried out four other nibbling assaults.

The revelations come after Biden's other canine, Major, got booted from the White House for his hostile behavior, even losing his title as first dog. Major was turned over to the care of a Biden family friend after chewing on a Secret Service agent in 2021.