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Michael Flynn either forgot the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, or he's a master at working for the crowd with MC call-backs ... and a lot of people think it's the former.

President Trump's former National Security Advisor -- and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, no less -- showed up Sunday at a pro-Trump rally down in South Carolina ... an event called "Bikers for Trump" which was held at the HonkyTonk Saloon.

At one point, Mike got on stage and led the audience in reciting the pledge ... and he kinda made a big show about it too, which made his weird silence look even worse.

Check it out ... Flynn starts out strong with the memorable words, but once he got past the initial sentence -- he seemed to have gotten his tongue-tied on the exact phrasing, and stopped talking altogether. Luckily, the crowd knew the rest ... and they finished it out.

MF hopped back in at "under God, indivisible." Unclear if he truly forgot -- or if he was doing that for dramatic effect ... but in any case, the pro-Trumpers didn't really mind. They gave him a big round of applause afterward, and it looked like they appreciated the gesture.

Of course, Twitter was having a field day with the awkward moment ... with many cracking jokes at Flynn's expense, saying a lot of guys from Putin's inner circle tend to have trouble with the pledge.

He was also accused of being a traitor -- which harkens back to his early tenure in the Trump WH ... when he was found to have been feeding intel to Russian operatives during the transition, something he lied about to Mike Pence (and the FBI) and ultimately got convicted for amid Robert Mueller's Russia probe.

If you thought Utah Republicans forgot all about Senator Mitt Romney turning his back on Donald Trump -- welp, they haven't. Exhibit A ... this tidal wave of boos.

The Utah U.S. Senator showed face Saturday at a GOP convention at the Maverik Center in his home state -- but not one of the 2,000 or so delegates on hand seemed all too happy to see him step to the podium ... and they made their displeasure known, very loudly.

Check out this brutal scene ... the entire building is straight-up booing the man, with no shame whatsoever. He was also reportedly met with taunts and jeers, likening him to a "communist" and a "traitor." Unfortunately for Romney, he got booed the hell off stage.

We'll give him credit -- he tried holding his own up there for a while, even bringing up Biden's first 100 days, seemingly in an effort to curry favor with the Utah crowd. They weren't having any of it, though ... and Romney eventually addressed the elephant in the room.

He said it's no secret he wasn't the biggest fan of Trump's "character" before someone came to get him. That's an understatement if we ever heard one -- and big-time downplaying.

Fact is ... Romney drew his line in the sand many times over, especially with his impeachment votes. You might recall ... he twice voted to convict Trump at his trials, agreeing that the guy had either 1) abused his presidential power or 2) incited an insurrection. Trump was acquitted in both instances.

Caitlyn Jenner has a take on trans athletes you might not expect -- namely, if you're born as a biological boy, you shouldn't be allowed to compete in girls' sports ... at least while you're still in school, anyway.

We got the California gubernatorial hopeful Saturday in Malibu, and she weighed in on her first big political issue as she takes center stage in her run for Gavin Newsom's job -- telling TMZ she doesn't support trans girls born as boys participating in all-female school sports.

Yeah, we know ... it's a pretty interesting stance -- especially coming from Caitlyn ... who of course, is a trans woman herself AND a former Olympic champion. But, check out her rationale ... she chalks it up to fairness and protecting the integrity of girls' sports.

It's a hot-button issue right now across the country -- upwards of 34 states are considering legislation that would ban trans athletes from competing based on their gender identity ... and at least five have already turned the bills into law.

Caitlyn's words here are HUGE ... She's staked out her position and it's a stark contrast to Newsom's views.

Now, for some numbers -- because this isn't as black and white as it may seem. While some argue trans girls would naturally perform better in athletics because of higher testosterone levels ... that's not entirely true, at least not across the board, anyway -- so say scientists.

There are studies examining this topic -- and they suggest that while, yes, trans women have tended to perform better against their cisgender counterparts in certain activities -- running events appear to be the big one -- it's not conclusive that their testosterone levels alone are the sole cause for that ... and it's not always the case either.

More importantly, the studies suggest that once trans girls start getting hormone therapy ... their performances tend to level out across different sports -- and by and large, all things end up being roughly equal. It also appears most athletic orgs require trans athletes to be on hormone therapy.

President Biden's dog, Major, will soon have a new four-legged pal around the White House ... 'cause the Bidens are getting a cat and they made sure Major can handle it.

Biden and the First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, told "Today" Major underwent special training that included the German Shepard visiting a cat shelter to see how he reacts around cats ... and he did fine.

When "Today" co-anchor Craig Melvin brought up Major, Biden joked, "We were going to bring him in to see you" ... to which Melvin replied, "Well, I don’t know if that’s the best idea based on what I’ve heard about Major."

Jill defended Major ... calling him a "sweet, lovable dog."

Major, of course, has had 2 biting incidents at the White House ... with the first one getting him and his pal, Champ, sent back to Delaware last month. Major eventually returned but just days later there was another biting incident ... prompting some extra handlers and a new trainer.

A Louisiana State Rep. had the audacity to suggest, out loud, that if a school is going to teach slavery it should talk about all parts of it ... including the "good." Seriously.

If there wasn't video of State Rep. Ray Garofalo making the argument this week, we wouldn't believe this ... but there is. While debating his controversial education bill that critics say aims to ban the acknowledgment of institutional racism, another legislator asked Garofalo what he considers a "larger course of academic instruction."

That's when he spewed, "If you're having a discussion on whatever the case may be, on slavery -- then you can talk about everything dealing with slavery. The good, the bad, the ugly."

Mind you ... Garofalo said this while a Black man, presumably another legislator, was sitting right next to him.

You gotta see how most of the legislative body reacted to the outlandish remark and, to her credit, Rep. Stephanie Hilferty quickly fired back a response.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi just made history before President Biden's first address to Congress ... celebrating the moment with a super cool elbow bump!!!

It's the first time in our nation's history two women are flanking an American president inside the House Chamber ... and Kamala and Nancy marked the occasion in style.

The mutual respect didn't stop with the iconic elbow bump, Kamala and Nancy also shook hands, even though they aren't supposed to get so close due to coronavirus protocols.

But, hey, this is a huge deal, so it's easy to understand how they could get caught up in the moment.

And, this is super interesting ... the two women who just made history tonight are not only both from Cali, they're both from the Bay Area. As Pelosi said today, there must be something in the water!

Get ready to see the elbow bump in history books one day, but in the meantime, we're sure it will get the meme and GIF treatment.

Kamala Harris is getting the Madame Tussauds treatment ... becoming the first Veep EVER to get immortalized by the famous wax museum.

Madame Tussauds New York on Wednesday released the work-in-progress clay head sculptures of President Biden and the VP. The resemblance is uncanny ... as MT's work usually is.

But, what's interesting here is Harris -- the first woman, Black and Asian-American VP -- becomes the first Vice President to whom Madame Tussauds' extends this honor.

It's a tradition for the wax museum to feature each U.S. president to get the honor. In fact, Madame Tussauds announced Biden would get his own figure following his Presidential win.

But, with the Biden-Harris administration inching close to their 100th day in office ... Madame Tussauds decided Harris would also be included ... with their clay heads created by a team of London-based studio artists. The meticulous work included the artists researching hundreds of pics to get as close to perfection.

Madame Tussauds says it took around 6 weeks to sculpt the figure and it'll take another 4 to 6 months to complete it. When it's done the final product will feature Biden and Harris wearing replica outfits from Inauguration Day.

Biden's outfit will feature a midnight blue Ralph Lauren suit and Harris will sport a purple coat, dress, gold and pearl necklace and pearl earrings.

Caitlyn Jenner might not be the only celeb gunning to be the next governor of California, Randy Quaid wants to throw his hat in the ring too, and it sounds like it's all about vengeance.

The "Kingpin" star says he's "seriously considering" running, and already has his platform ... he says corruption is rampant among prosecutors in Cali and he wants to "clean up the District Attorney Offices throughout the state."

Randy's legal issues in California are well documented, so this sounds very personal.

As we reported ... Randy and his wife, Evi, are wanted in Santa Barbara for failing to show up for a court hearing in their 2010 felony burglary case. Remember, the Quaids were charged after they were found allegedly living in a home illegally.

Randy and Evi went to Canada after the felony arrest warrant was issued in Santa Barbara, but Canada didn't want them either, and in 2015 they were arrested in Vermont while allegedly trying to sneak back into the U.S.

California tried to extradite the couple back to the state from Vermont, but the process was denied.

The Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office tells us the case and the warrants for their arrests are still active, which raises a big issue for potential candidate Quaid: How the hell will he campaign for Governor in a state where he can be arrested the moment he steps foot in said state?

Caitlyn Jenner's ruffling all kinds of feathers within the family in her bid to be the next governor of California ... her sons didn't want her to run, and they're embarrassed she is.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the Jenner bros -- Brody, Brandon and Burt -- don't feel she's qualified for the position and they strongly believe she shouldn't be mounting a campaign.

Our sources say Caitlyn called some of her kids the night before publicly announcing her decision to run, and her sons strongly suggested she pump the brakes and scuttle the whole thing.

As you know, Caitlyn went ahead with her plans ... but we're told her sons are upset she never took the family's feelings into consideration ... by the time she called them she had already made her decision.

Caitlyn's not doing much better with the Kardashians, including Kendall and Kylie, as we first told you ... they won't be hitting the campaign trail to stump for her, and Kim's already clashing with CJ over prison reform.

For once, it sounds like the Kardashian-Jenner kids all agree on something ... Caitlyn shouldn’t be running.

If Rep. Karen Bass were a betting woman, she's close to betting the house, no pun intended, on Congress passing police reform legislation and getting it signed by President Biden in no time.

The U.S. Congresswoman for California's 37th District joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" and laid out surprisingly good odds for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to get the necessary votes in, not only in the House, but in the Senate ... where Republicans have numbers to stall or kill the bill.

Bass, who introduced the bill in June 2020, says she's been working closely with Sen. Tim Scott -- who's spearheading efforts to gather enough Republican votes -- and she believes he's fully committed to getting it passed. Right now she's putting their odds of success at 80 percent, but explains she might go even higher than that.

The bill aims to ban chokeholds, no-knock warrants and profiling, and also to set national standards for police training ... among many other things.

Caitlyn Jenner is following in Arnold Schwarzenegger's footsteps in her bid for Governor of California -- and wouldn't you know it ... the man himself has some sage advice!!!

The former Governator did Jimmy Kimmel's show Monday night and was asked what he made of the former Olympian taking a crack at politics, like Arnold did almost two decades ago. Long story short ... Arnold says she could win.

Now, Arnold stopped short of endorsing Caitlyn ... but did note that, just like in his 2003 race, anybody could take the prize based on how dissatisfied Californians seem to be with Gavin Newsom. And yes, that includes Ms. Jenner herself.

Ahnald says it'll be far from a cakewalk for Caitlyn, though, despite her fame. He tells Jimmy there will probably be upwards of 100 Republican candidates vying for the job -- about the same number in his race.

So, how should Caitlyn stand out in the crowd? Arnold dished some advice, saying gubernatorial candidates need to have a sharp vision that they can easily communicate to the masses. Not just that, but he says they gotta be able to convince folks why they're qualified.

It also sounds like the ex-Gov might've actually spoken with Caitlyn already about her bid ... but he didn't go into deets of what they might've discussed. What's also obvious here is that the guy's trying to be diplomatic ... he notes he's buds with Newsom AND Caitlyn, and doesn't wanna show his support one way or another at this point.

Still, ya gotta wonder who he'll vote for come election day. Based on what he's saying here ... we'd say it's a toss-up.

Just like most of us over the last year, the White House is leaning on Zoom to conduct meetings and get face time with folks amid the pandemic, but chances are President Biden's Zoomin' is MUCH more expensive than yours.

According to federal docs obtained by TMZ ... the Executive Office of the President has spent a little more than $422,000 on Zoom licensing fees since mid-January, right around the time Biden took office.

That might seem pretty hefty -- especially for those who mostly use Zoom for free or at a low cost to chat with family and friends ... but the licenses needed for the government to use Zoom, at the capacity required for the Prez, really add up.

As you might know ... Biden's been on Zoom a lot lately, including for the current virtual Global Climate Summit with dozens of other world leaders.

POTUS also swore in hundreds of federal appointees and staff via virtual Zoom ceremonies after his inauguration.

The Kardashians won't be hitting the campaign trail on behalf of Caitlyn Jenner now that's she's running for governor of California ... because their views and the views of C.J. don't mesh, and the fallout from her divorce from Kris makes it all just too tricky.

Sources close to Caitlyn tell TMZ ... she spoke to her family before announcing her campaign Friday, giving them a heads up. We're told she did not expect them to stump for her on the campaign trail, and now we know why.

Caitlyn's politics have been an issue with the family for years.  She has taken positions on issues like gay marriage -- which she initially opposed but now supports -- which landed like a lead balloon with the Kardashians.

As for Kim, in particular, we're told she genuinely likes Caitlyn and the 2 have a good relationship. Kim's been active in politics, working with Trump on prison reform, but has never personally aligned herself with conservative views. You'll remember, she never publicly endorsed Kanye during his Presidential bid.

The Kardashians seem to have a bend toward the Dems ... they were behind Hillary Clinton in her 2016 run ... remember, Caitlyn supported Trump, although she disavowed him 2 years later.

There's another issue that prevents the Kardashians from getting involved in Caitlyn's campaign. We're told there are still hard feelings over her divorce from Kris, and the kids don't want to get in the middle.

Donald Trump shoulda called 1-800-NOBILLS, because his now-defunct campaign is being dunned by a bill collector after its client got royally stiffed.

The City of Albuquerque shelled out more than $200k for security-related costs associated with a 2019 campaign rally ... this according to The Hill. The City had blocked off City Hall, among other areas of town, and it required massive police presence, which forced the City to pay cops a bundle of OT. There were many other expenses as well.

The rally was held in the nearby city of Rio Rancho. A spokesperson for the City said campaign honchos told them from the jump they wouldn't cover the expenses, but now the matter has been referred to a debt collection agency.

The campaign has also stiffed the city of Rio Rancho to the tune of $239,475. And, Bernalillo County also sent the campaign an invoice for nearly $140,000, which has now been written off as a bad debt.

Apparently, some of the notices of delinquent payment were sent to Trump's doorstep at Mar-a-Lago.

This isn't the only case where the Trump campaign allegedly cut and run. The City of El Paso hired lawyers to try and recover more than half a mil for rally-related expenses for a 2019 rally.

The Congressman who ripped Cardi B on the House floor says he didn't watch her Grammys "WAP" performance until AFTER his lecture ... and he couldn't stomach the whole thing.

U.S. Rep Glenn Grothman tells TMZ ... he finally watched Cardi's Grammy performance for the first time Thursday, about 5 hours after decrying it as "inconsistent with basic decency" while lambasting the FCC for broadcasting it.

Grothman tells us he stopped watching "WAP" after about 2 minutes ... he says he was turned off by how "offensive and boring" it was.

As you know ... Grothman complained about Cardi's Grammys appearance on the House floor, saying it's contributing to America's moral decline.

Cardi quickly shot back ... calling Grothman names and wondering why the Wisconsin Republican's wasting time on the House floor ranting about "WAP" instead of tackling critical issues like police brutality.

Grothman says he was just doing what his constituents asked of him -- he tells us folks in his district complained to him about Cardi's performance shortly after the Grammys, demanding he straighten things out with the FCC when he's in D.C.

Rep. Grothman says Thursday was his first chance to speak up, and he believes young people are in his corner on this one. He says several "respectable young staffers" did not give him positive Cardi reviews before he shared his piece. Of course, they work for him ... so, those are hardly unbiased opinions.

The way Grothman sees it ... Cardi struck it rich by appealing to the lowest common denominator, and he thinks that hurts the country's moral climate.

Caitlyn Jenner is throwing her hat in the ring to become the next governor of California.

There was a lot of talk that she might run and Caitlyn didn't stop the buzz. She made it official Friday, saying, "I have been a compassionate disrupter throughout my life, from representing the United States and winning a gold medal at the Olympics to helping advance the movement for equality. As Californians, we face a now-or-never opportunity to fundamentally fix our state before it’s too late.”

Her path isn't set in cement. There is a petition to recall Governor Gavin Newsom ... a movement that has gained steam in the wake of the pandemic. If the recall movement qualifies for the ballot, California voters will be asked 2 questions. Should Newsom be recalled? If a majority of voters say yes, then the second question is on the table. Who do you want to replace him? That's where Caitlyn's name will land.

Here's the reality ... she has an edge because of her name. You may recall, years ago California Governor Gray Davis was recalled and Arnold Schwarzenegger led the large pack of candidates to become the next governor.

There will almost certainly be a large number of candidates vying for the job, but Caitlyn may be the most famous of the batch, which would give her an edge.

Caitlyn already took a shot at Newsom, saying, "This isn’t the California we know. This is Gavin Newsom’s California, where he orders us to stay home but goes out to dinner with his lobbyist friends." She's obviously referring to Newsom's notorious dinner at the French Laundry.

She's not the only celeb flirting with a governorship. Matthew McConaughey is not only interested in running ... he seems to be leading the pack and even pulling way out ahead of current governor Greg Abbott.