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Kanye West is on the California ballot ... as a VICE PRESIDENTIAL candidate.

The mail-in ballots are being mailed out, and Ye's on the American Independent Party. The A.I.P.'s presidential candidate is Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente Guerra.

So how, you ask, can Kanye be both the presidential candidate for the Birthday Party and the vice presidential candidate for the American Independent Party?  Well, from what we can see, it's entirely possible/likely Kanye didn't consent to the nom, but then again ...

As we reported, Ye's pick for Veep on the Birthday ticket is Michelle Tidball. She has not publicly said if she's down with the nom.

Oh, and if you're wondering who Roque is ... he's the owner of De La Fuente car dealerships. He has lots of cash and some political ambition. He ran for Prez as a Democrat years ago, and then switched parties to Independent in 2016. He's challenged Senator Dianne Feinstein ... in fact, he's run for U.S. Senate in 9 different states at the same time.

President Trump will be flown to Walter Reed Military Hospital for continued treatment for COVID-19.

The White House just announced the President will be flown to the renowned Bethesda, MD facility on Friday afternoon. It's a dramatic turn, considering the administration previously said he was "fatigued" and experiencing "mild symptoms."

The Marine One helicopter has already landed on the South Lawn at the White House ... ready to transport Trump.

The White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany says, "Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days.”

Sources connected to the White House tell us the move is primarily because they want an added level of safety for the President, considering he's high risk due to his age and weight.

We're told his illness was obvious Friday during conference calls, and he was unusually quiet. There were early signs Thursday night when he called in to Sean Hannity's show on Fox News around 9:30 PM Eastern time -- he sounded like he had low energy and a case of the sniffles.

We're told, at that point, Trump already suspected he had COVID-19 ... although, he didn't announce his test results on Twitter until almost 1 AM Eastern time.

Story developing ...

Trump's doctor just revealed the President is being treated with an experimental drug that uses antibodies to try to attack COVID-19. The treatment was administered through an IV.

Biden, who shared the debate stage with Trump this week, has tested NEGATIVE for the virus ... according to his campaign.

10/2 -- According to reports, Ivanka Trump, Barron Trump and Jared Kushner have all tested negative.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have both contracted the coronavirus.

The President broke the news with a tweet -- at nearly 1 AM Friday in D.C. -- saying ... "Tonight @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER."

The alarming news comes hours after we learned one of the President's aides, Hope Hicks, had tested positive. Hope had been traveling on Air Force One all week with POTUS ... going to and from the presidential debate in Cleveland ... and also to his rally in Minnesota.

The impact is far-reaching. Trump came into contact with numerous people over the last 5 days, including Joe Biden on the debate stage, and his Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. And, then there's his treasury secretary -- someone who frequently meets with the president -- who had a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Vice President Pence has tested negative, but there's still a window of risk since he's been in contact with Trump over the last week.

Trump was not feeling well on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg News, so it's also unclear how long Trump has been COVID positive.

Furthermore, what's unclear -- who gave the virus to whom? Did Trump contract the virus from Hope Hicks or vice versa, or did they contract it from someone else?

There's no good time to contract the virus, but it comes at a particularly critical time for the President ... less than 5 weeks before Election Day. We don't yet know if he and Melania are experiencing symptoms, but the First Lady tweeted that they are "feeling good."

Trump has made no secret of how much he hates wearing face masks, and has done it in public very rarely since the pandemic began.

The last time we saw him wearing one in public was a week ago at the public viewing for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg outside the Supreme Court.

During the debate on Tuesday night, he did pull one out of his pocket as he claimed to have no issue with wearing face coverings. It's worth noting, at 74 years old he is in a high-risk category for COVID-19. Melania is only 50.

As you know, Trump has logged a lot of miles this week -- traveling with his inner circle of aides and attending large scale events. Once contact tracing is done ... it's possible a large number of people will need to be tested immediately and quarantined.

So far, the administration is saying the Prez and Melania will remain in their White House residence while they quarantine. It's unclear how long that will last, but typically doctors recommend 14 days.

And, if you're wondering ... the next presidential debate is exactly 14 days away.

President Trump is finally saying the words he failed to say at the first presidential debate -- "I condemn all white supremacists."

Trump called in to his friend Sean Hannity's Fox News show Thursday night to talk about his performance at the first debate vs. Joe Biden ... and try to put the Proud Boys controversy to rest.

He said, "Let me be clear again -- I condemn the KKK. I condemn all white supremacists. I condemn the Proud Boys." Trump re-insisted he doesn't know much about the Proud Boys hate group ... but he's against what they do.

This, of course, is in stark contrast to his response 48 hours earlier when debate moderator Chris Wallace asked him to denounce white supremacy. Instead, he told the Proud Boys to "Stand back, and stand by."

On Wednesday, while talking to the press at The White House about the outrage he caused, he denied knowledge of the Proud Boys and again danced around a flat-out denouncement of white supremacy.

Interestingly, when Trump spoke to Hannity it was about 6:30 PM PT -- 90 minutes after we'd learned his aide, Hope Hicks, tested positive for COVID-19, but before his test results were back. He did discuss having to go into quarantine, but only after addressing the debate and white supremacy.

Melania Trump fumed during a secretly-recorded conversation, railing on the criticism President Trump received over separating mothers from their children at the border and expressing extreme frustration about the way the "liberal media" treats her and her husband.

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Melania's former aide and former best friend, Linda Tripped her, recording their conversation without the First Lady's knowledge. Melania was venting about the attacks she fielded over separating mothers and kids at the border, saying, "Give me a f***ing break!"  She went on, "Where they were saying anything when Obama did that?"

The First Lady talked about her trip to the border and how she was thwarted in reuniting a child with the mother ... "I was trying to get the kid reunited with the mom. I didn't have a chance -- needs to go through the process and through the law." She says the press would not cover her efforts, saying, "They would not do the story because they, they, they are against us, because they're the liberal media." And, then she said ... "Yeah, if I [go] to Fox, they will do the story. I don't want to go to Fox."

And, then there's Saint Nick. In the recording, first played on CNN, Melania says, "Where I am, I put, I'm working like my ass off at Christmas stuff that you know, who gives a f*** about Christmas stuff and decoration. But, I need to do it, right?"

President Trump's close aide, Hope Hicks, has reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus after flying on Air Force One this week with the Prez.

Hope's positive COVID-19 test comes on the heels of her traveling to and from Tuesday's debate in Cleveland -- as well as a roundtrip flight to Trump's Wednesday rally in Minnesota ... according to a Bloomberg News report.

The report says she is experiencing symptoms now ... however, there's no indication POTUS has contracted the virus.

Hope is working for Trump again as a "counselor to the President" after previously serving as his communications director, and working on his 2016 campaign.

We reached out to the White House, and deputy press secretary Judd Deere would not comment about Hope or the President's health. He did tell us, "The President takes the health and safety of himself and everyone who works in support of him and the American people very seriously."

He continued, "White House Operations collaborates with the Physician to the President and the White House Military Office to ensure all plans and procedures incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible both on complex and when the President is traveling."

Van Jones can't stop smiling about the REFORM Alliance's big win -- the new law he says will improve the lives of tens of thousands of Californians ... and it's just the start, he hopes.

The REFORM CEO and esteemed news commentator joined "TMZ Live" Thursday, still riding high after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the AB 1950 bill into law ... which Jones calls a "transformative" piece of legislation.

Van says it's all about giving people a fair shot and setting them up for success, and gives props to Newsom for working with REFORM to make a much-needed change to the state's probation system.

As we reported ... the new law limits adult probation sentences to a maximum of 1 year for a misdemeanor, and 2 years for felony offenses. Van says ideally, this will lower petty probation violations and keep people from going back to prison when they're not even committing crimes.

More importantly, Jones says the law is set up to give people in the criminal justice system a "springboard to success, and not a trap door into failure" ... in order to lead productive lives after they've done their time.

Jones also believes this progress is a result of all the protesting for change, and even though the alliance was founded by big names like Jay-Z, Meek Mill, Michael Rubin and Robert Kraft ... everyone involved in the movement helped.

REFORM Alliance -- the criminal justice reform org launched by Jay-Z, Meek Mill, Michael Rubin and others -- is celebrating its first major victory with CA Gov. Gavin Newsom signing a new bill into law.

Newsom just put pen to paper on AB 1950 ... legislation which will drastically reshape Cali's probation system and give hundreds of thousands of Californians a better shot at exiting the criminal justice system for good.

Specifically, the new law limits adult probation sentences to a maximum of 1 year for misdemeanor, and 2 years for felony offenses. The theory is that will greatly reduce probation violations. REFORM campaigned hard for the bill, generating more than 3,000 emails to Newsom's desk.

As you know, Meek knows personally how probation violations can unjustly derail someone's life, and his experience is part of the origin story of REFORM.

Meek's pal, and 76ers partner, Rubin says ... "This is exactly why we created REFORM -- to change laws and create a smarter criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation and redemption all while keeping communities safe."

He adds ... "We’re grateful for Governor Newsom and Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove’s commitment to making such meaningful change in California and we hope it sets a necessary precedent for state leaders across the country."

Congressman Dwight Evans says President Trump was out of line with his jab at Philadelphia, and thinks that lashing out is gonna backfire on him come Election Day.

The U.S. Representative went to bat for his home district -- which includes West Philly -- when we got him in D.C. Wednesday. Evans blasted Trump for disrespecting the City of Brotherly Love during the debate by saying, "Bad things happen in Philadelphia."

Trump was specifically talking about an alleged poll watchers controversy when he made the comment, but Rep. Evans believes the dig goes deeper than that ... and shows POTUS doesn't value Ben Franklin's home turf.

The Congressman also claims Trump has zero support in Philadelphia as it is, and suggests the Prez might have sealed his fate in the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with the diss.

As for Philadelphians ... it seems they're embracing Trump's hate, even as his campaign threatens to sue the city over allegations poll watchers were banned.

President Trump is walking back his ominous message to the far-right group, Proud Boys ... and now says he doesn't even know who they are.

Trump fielded questions on the South Lawn about the "stand back and stand by" remark he made when debate moderator Chris Wallace asked if he would denounce white supremacy.

He told the White House press corps ... "I don't know who the Proud Boys are" and asked reporters for a definition of the group -- which has been widely labeled a neo-fascist, male-only, politically violent organization.

The President added, "Whoever they are, they have to stand down -- let law enforcement do their work."

Interestingly, though, he was again asked straight-up if he denounces white supremacy. Watch how he dances around the question before finally responding ... but without ever saying the words, "white supremacy." Trump finally mutters ... "I've always denounced any form, any form, any form of any of that, you have to denounce."

The Prez then pivoted to attack the liberal left and Antifa instead, much like he did during the first presidential debate.

As we reported ... the debate has been widely panned as a disgrace -- or much worse -- and the ratings were way down from 2016. That could be the result of voters turned off by the nastiness or voters who've already decided just not watching.

Either way, it could be too late for this kinda damage control

President Trump refusing to condemn white supremacists and continuing to undermine confidence in the election has Rev. Al Sharpton concerned about division and voter intimidation.

Sharpton was on "TMZ Live" Thursday to address the President's ominous words -- "Stand back and stand by" -- for alt-right group the Proud Boys ... and his apparent encouragement of supporters to take to the streets if he's dissatisfied with the election.

According to Rev. Al, the message is clear -- Trump stands by white supremacy, and gave a hate group his stamp of approval Wednesday night.

Sharpton believes this could have dire consequences and deliver a blow to our democracy if voters are intimidated to go to the polls ... something he suggests is Trump's motive.

Americans are preparing in droves to get outta Dodge after the disaster that was the first presidential debate ... or so it seems based on the line to get a passport.

The passport office in Times Square drew a flock of customers, all lined up Wednesday morning less than 12 hours after the debate ... or as CNN put it, the "s**tshow."

The NYC crowd played like a response to the head-to-head war of words between President Trump and Joe Biden, because fleeing the country is one of those things ya hear people -- on both sides -- say when they're pissed about politics.

We're told the folks in line were waiting for appointments with the Dominican Republic Consulate.

After last night, virtually everyone's unhappy. As we reported ... some lowlights of the chaotic debate included Biden referring to the President as a "clown," and Trump refusing to denounce white supremacy.

There were plenty of other disturbing comments and verbal attacks, and it's all resonating with the public.

As many viewers and pundits have said ... to hell with the candidates, the American people lost last night.

Kylie Jenner is flexing her political influence in a very impressive way ... turning your standard IG thirst trap into nearly 50,000 potential new registered voters!

TMZ's learned Kylie's smoke show bikini pics -- posted Monday -- are drawing huge traffic for Vote.org. She used the caption of those sexy shots to direct her nearly 200 million Instagram followers to hit up the site, and so many obeyed ... we're told it saw a whopping 1500% boost from traffic driven via Instagram.

There are more astronomical stats -- Vote.org got over an 80% increase in total users of its voter registration and verification tool from the prior day. That all translates to more than 48,000 users going to the site through Kylie's IG post ... and ya gotta figure that number's still rising.

By contrast ... only 2,900 users came to the registration verification tool via Instagram on Sunday out of 174k total users. So, there's clearly a very real Kylie effect working here.

Remember ... only around 138 million Americans -- out of 328 million -- voted in 2016. Now, more than 1 million have already cast ballots for this year's election ... the highest rate of early voting in U.S. history. For example, around this time 4 years ago, less than 10,000 people had voted.

Ya can't say Kylie hasn't done her part to get people to the polls. Aside from the pics this week ... she also implored fans back in June to NOT get distracted, and show up to the polls.

President Trump won't denounce white supremacy and he just delivered an ominous message to the Proud Boys ... telling them to "stand by."

Trump made the jaw-dropping remark during the first presidential debate when moderator Chris Wallace and Democratic candidate Joe Biden asked him to denounce white supremacist groups.

POTUS first attacked ANTIFA when debating violent protests in places like Kenosha, WI and Portland, OR before saying to the Proud Boys, "Stand back and stand by."

It's a bizarre and ominous statement to say the least ... because "stand by" sounds a lot like Trump is telling the far-right group that if he loses the election to Biden, he'll get back to them.

Eric Trump took an anonymous gay person's support for his dad and tried to bootstrap that support to the entire LGBT community -- but some of their heaviest hitters are calling BS.

Officials from some of the biggest LGBT-friendly groups in the country are outraged by the Prez's son's appearance Tuesday on "Fox & Friends" -- when he responded to an NYT op-ed told from the POV of a lesbian woman ... who said she was a secret Trump supporter.

In his response, Eric seemingly flubbed ... making it seem like he's a member of the community. More importantly, he suggested gay people were down with MAGA ... but that's hardly the case ... so say these orgs.

Reps for GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG and the NTCE Action Fund tell TMZ there's a consensus -- folks in their community are mostly NOT Trump fans, nor do they consider him/his fam genuine allies in their fight for equality and representation.

The facts are clear says the LGBTQ honchos ... the Trump administration has actively worked against LGBT causes -- from blocking trans soldiers from serving to sanctioning discrimination and/or firings of gay workers and couples looking to foster.

Bottom line ... all of these orgs believe Eric is either exaggerating or more likely flat-out wrong in thinking the LGBT crowd's got his pop's back -- especially in this election.

American politician and life-long republican Dan Quayle (full name James Danforth Quayle) was in his early 40s when he took on the role as the 44th Vice President alongside President of the United States George H.W. Bush from 1989 to 1993.

Before Quayle plopped down in the VEEP seat, he served as the long-running United States Senator from Indiana for a solid eight-year run in the '80s.

After the four-year job in the White House, Dan Quayle took on a few other gigs including running for Prez in 2000, working in the private sector and fathering 3 children.