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Lara Trump kicked off 2024 scandalizing the MAGA folks with her revealing New Year's Eve attire -- though the backlash is rooted in jealousy, according to the dress' designer.

"Project Runway" alum Oscar Lopez, who designed Lara's NYE dress, tells TMZ he's sticking by the thigh-high split/plunging white gown, which was branded 'trashy,' 'inappropriate' and 'disrespectful' by folks on social media ... saying he actually designed it with sensuality and elegance in mind.

He says he worked closely with Lara to ensure the final creation aligned with the empowering message they wanted to portray ... while staying true to Lara's confident personal style -- though Oscar notes the gym bunny looks great in anything cause she's got a fantastic figure.

Oscars says Lara was content to wear the final look ... and he's got no regrets about working with her.

As for the controversy, Oscar notes fashion is a subjective and interpretive art form, eliciting a range of reactions -- it's just a shame his skin-baring design has divided opinion.

He confirms Lara's aware of the scrutiny -- but she ain't letting it faze her cause she respects the diverse opinions that come with being in the public eye.

9:23 AM PT -- Donald Trump just addressed after his court hearing this AM in DC -- and it sounds like he might've not been made aware of this troubling hot mic comments ... just take a listen.

DT said that while he was dismayed by the case and the charges in general -- continuing to insist he's getting railroaded over politics -- he did thank the media for covering this one "fairly." Of course, what the journos were joking about out there seem to indicate a slant.

That's putting it lightly ...

Covering Donald Trump's arrival at a federal court is hardly the time or place to be talking about assassinations, much less making jokes about them ... but that's what 2 journalists did, and they got busted on hot microphones.

The 2 unnamed journalists were outside the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse Tuesday morning in Washington, DC -- waiting for the former president to pull up -- when they started assessing their position and whether they'd have a good view of Trump.

Apparently, they forgot where they were and what they do for a living ... because with open mics all around they start joking about Trump possibly showing up in a convertible -- a la President John F. Kennedy in his ill-fated Dallas motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963.

One guy says to the other, "Maybe someone, just like they told JFK, 'Y'know what ya should do, you should take a convertible!" Hahaha.

The video shows police officers standing just a few feet away from the mystery journos, but it's unclear if the cops heard the remarks. It's certainly possible the Secret Service will take an interest in the video.

Trump showed up at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- in a motorcade of SUVs, for what it's worth -- to argue he should have immunity from prosecution in special counsel Jack Smith's election subversion case.

While the journalists were clearly joking -- it's the kinda thing reporters do while passing time at major events -- this kinda humor never sits well with those protecting Presidents ... past, present or future.

Vivek Ramaswamy is hoping Jake Paul can deliver a knockout punch for him on the campaign trail ... which is why they're teaming up for a critical stretch in his bid for the GOP nomination.

The presidential primary season starts next Monday in Iowa ... and we're told Jake and Vivek will be side-by-side on Sunday as they travel around the state urging Gen-Zers to come out and vote.

Vivek's spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, tells TMZ ... "We're very excited Jake's joining on the campaign trail and we're hoping it can really drive out younger people."

She goes on to say that while Vivek is seeing a lot of enthusiasm from young voters, Jake's star power and ability to command a crowd is going to be a major asset on the eve of the Iowa caucus.

We're told the duo will travel in Vivek's private plane to events at 4 of the biggest universities in Iowa ... all as part of the "Commit to Caucus Rally."

Tricia says Vivek talked to Jake about joining the campaign trail a few weeks ago ... when he attended Jake's fight against Andre August in Florida. As we reported, Jake hooked up Vivek with ringside seats.

Make no mistake, Ramaswamy needs a big spark. Recent polls show he's well under 10 percent of likely Iowa GOP caucus voters ... but Vivek's campaign is adamant they're tapping into a group of voters that isn't accounted for in those polls.

Donald Trump's encouraging his supporters to stop people on Election Day that they suspect might be up to no good ... and he's using fecal descriptions to send his message.

The ex-Prez was out campaigning in Iowa Friday -- which is about to kick off its caucus voting on Jan. 15 -- and he made no bones about what he wants MAGA loyalists to do during this presidential election in November ... put a halt to the BS, emphasis on s***.

Check out the clip ... DT ominously tells the crowd that he expects them to roam around election centers and keep an eye out for "bags of crap" that might try to infiltrate.

If the MAGA voters see any of that ... he encourages them to put a stop to it right there at the booths. On its face, it almost sounds like he's cosigning some physical confrontations.

Poop jokes aside, this is pretty serious ... and it comes across as a warning of conflicts to come as we get closer to voting day itself. Already, it's sounding like Trump is stoking the flames of election interference/tampering -- and he's riling up his base right now in January.

Of course, we've seen that story before and how it played out ... namely, Jan. 6, 2021.

It's, perhaps, no coincidence then that Trump was talking this way on the eve of the 3-year anniversary of that. And yes, he continues to insist the 2020 election was "stolen."

A MSNBC host choked back tears live on the air while talking to a cop who was on the front lines of Jan. 6 -- and in other news ... new fugitives are in custody 3 years to the day.

Anchor Jonathan Capehart brought former Metro D.C. officer Michael Fanone on his Saturday morning program, and after recapping what had happened on 1/6/21 and introducing him ... JC got emotional on camera before he passed things off to his guest.

Watch ... you can tell the heartfelt moment wasn't lost on Fanone, who also seemed to be stirred. Capehart took out a handkerchief and wiped his face a bit as he gathered himself.

Like we said, Fanone was one of the many officers on the scene on Jan. 6 -- and he nearly lost his life as MAGA supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress's certification of the 2020 election ... this after Donald Trump gave a speech earlier in the day.

Fanone has made the rounds on cable news and on Capitol Hill in the years since ... relaying his harrowing near-death experience and denouncing the rioters' motives and actions.

His story continues to touch hearts ... including Capehart's, who broke down in front of him.

BTW, the Jan. 6 arrests continue to this day too ... including 3 new ones that were just announced Saturday by the FBI. The feds say they've captured a trio of fugitives whom they'd been looking for since '21 ... Jonathan and Olivia Pollock and Joseph Hutchinson.

Nikki Haley is digging a deeper hole for herself as she continues her apology tour to rectify her comments on the Civil War -- because she's playing the ol' "Black friends" card.

She was asked about her thoughts over the backlash to her blunder during CNN's town hall in Des Moines Thursday night ... the Republican presidential hopeful told host Erin Burnett she should've said slavery was a catalyst for the Civil War straight off the bat.

Nikki elaborated, though, saying she believed the slavery part of it was obvious to her, because South Carolinians grow up talking about the topic -- and not-so-subtly slipped in the line, "I had Black friends growing up ... it is a very talked about thing."

She emphasized that she's always associated the Civil War with slavery ... and with her response, she was merely trying to highlight the lesson learned going forward.

The controversy kicked off Dec 27 at a campaign stop in Berlin, NH, when Haley left out the fact that slavery triggered the bloody conflict between the Union and the Confederacy in the 1800s.

Haley was criticized by the media and pretty much everyone else -- including ex-CNN anchor Don Lemon who blasted her apology tour, saying she didn't show him any grace when he said she was past her prime during a live TV broadcast.

Michael Jackson, David Copperfield and Stephen Hawking are on Jeffrey Epstein's list of associates -- and while there's no evidence any of them had anything to do with the infamous sex offender's crimes, one was allegedly suspicious.

Copperfield was named 6 times in the documents -- which were made public Wednesday -- including in the deposition of alleged victim, Johanna Sjöberg, who said she and another girl had dinner with the magician at Epstein's home.

During the dinner, Johanna asked the other young-looking girl what school she went to, and when she didn't recognize the name of the school as being a college ... she said the girl might have been of high school age.

Copperfield apparently had a similar feeling -- according to the docs, Johanna testified, he "questioned me if I was aware that girls were getting paid to find other girls."

Copperfield's involvement with Epstein has previously been made public ... in a 2019 article from the New York Times, which detailed Ghislaine Maxwell's involvement in scouting young girls. Maxwell never accused Copperfield of any wrongdoing.

Sjöberg also testified that Michael Jackson visited Epstein's Palm Beach home, though she didn't allege he did anything illegal.

Meanwhile, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking was also named in the newly released filing ... where it's claimed Epstein told Maxwell she'd offer money to Virginia Giuffre's friends if they'd "help prove" an allegation that Stephen participated in an "underage orgy" was false.

The 3 have been named after a judge ordered documents relating to Virginia's civil suit against Maxwell could be made public.

Also on the list are former President Donald Trump and Prince Andrew. The British royal allegedly had sexual encounters with Virginia ... though he's denied it.

Former President Bill Clinton is also featured in the newly unsealed court documents ... where it's claimed Epstein told one of his sex abuse victims Bill likes his girls young.

Despite the allegations ... Bill was in good spirits alongside his wife Hillary as he explored the charming streets of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico Wednesday ... the pair making time to stop and chat with locals.

Dave Chappelle takes aim at people with disabilities in his new comedy special ... and one of his targets, Madison Cawthorn, says it's kosher ... and funny!!!

The former Congressman tells TMZ ... he loved being roasted by Dave, and the jokes about him being confined to a wheelchair were fair game because he's a public figure.

In Dave's new Netflix special 'The Dreamer,' he jokes about a time he met the former Rep. from North Carolina, saying ... "I just walked away. I wanted him to see me do something he couldn’t do. I skipped."

Madison, who was partially paralyzed in a 2014 car crash, says Dave's joke is all part of living in a free society.

MC's disability wasn't the only topic Dave touched on ... he also referenced a memorable moment from Madison's single term in Congress ... Cawthorn infamously claimed he had been invited to an orgy in Washington.

Madison says Dave's sex parties joke didn't bother him either ... and he was well aware ahead of time Dave would be taking aim at him in the special, getting a heads up from some of his buddies who caught Dave's set in Nashville.

In fact, Madison tells us DC is his favorite comic ... and he went to one of Dave's shows in Tampa, which was being filmed by the Netflix crew, so he could hear the jokes for himself.

Madison says Dave was floored to see him in the audience, with the comedian inviting him backstage after the show ... introducing Madison to his family and giving him some drinks.

In the credits of Dave's special, there's even footage of Madison laughing in the audience ... and the two posed for a photo together after the set.

1:50 PM PT -- Harvard University announced that they've appointed Alan Garber as the new interim president.

Claudine Gay is stepping down as Harvard President after waffling on the issues of Jewish genocide and antisemitism, and being dogged by allegations of plagiarism.

Gay plans to resign Tuesday afternoon, according to the Harvard Crimson -- the university's student-run publication -- which cites a "source with knowledge of the decision."

Gay's resignation ends her Harvard presidency after just 6 months and 2 days ... the shortest in the Ivy League school's history.

Remember, Gay was among the university presidents who testified on Capitol Hill last month and refused to answer a yes or no question about whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" violated Harvard's rules.

The ensuing controversy already lead to former University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill's resignation ... and now Gay is following suit.

In addition to her controversial congressional testimony, Gay also faced several allegations of plagiarism in her work as a scholar.

Gay's resignation comes just 3 weeks after the Harvard Corporation unequivocally said it was backing her. Apparently, Harvard's head honchos had a change of heart.

It's unclear who will replace Gay as Harvard's president.

The head of South Korea's Democratic Party was brutally stabbed by a knife-wielding suspect during a press conference ... and the horrifying attack was all caught on video.

Lee Jae-myung was at a public event surrounded by a gaggle of reporters and TV cameras in South Korea's port city of Busan Tuesday when the assailant approached him for an autograph before suddenly plunging a knife into his neck.

Check out the crazy clip ... Lee grimaces in pain as he collapses to the ground after the stabbing. The crowd jumps on the suspect, who's wearing a blue, paper crown around his head, tackling him to the pavement.

Other footage shows Lee lying face up on the ground with his eyes closed as someone applies a handkerchief to his neck wound to stop the bleeding.

Lee was rushed to a hospital in Busan, where he was given emergency care for his neck injury, which was not life-threatening, according to Reuters. He was then airlifted to a medical facility in the capital city of Seoul for additional treatment.

South Korean Democratic Party spokesman Kwon Chil-seung held a press conference, saying that medical staff believes Lee suffered damage to his jugular vein.

Argentina's new president is a handful, but not nearly as much as his hot girlfriend -- who he was feeling up and locking lips with onstage in front of everyone ... and it's all on video.

Javier Milei touched down Friday in the city of Mar de Plata to catch his actress GF Fátima Flórez's live play -- which is apparently named after her, "Fatima 100%." Anyway, afterward ... the prez hopped onstage while people were applauding, and congratulated her himself.

After launching into a speech about the hard times Argentina is about to enter as he kicks off his presidency -- which just started late this year -- he smooched Fátima ... passionately.

They started with just a peck ... but quickly launched into full-blown tongue wars, showing off a ton of PDA to the crowd as they cheered and whistled. Once they were done, Fátima said a few words of her own, thanking her BF and then leaving with him shortly afterward.

This ain't the first time the couple has shown affection in public like this -- they actually tend to do it all the time ... which jibes with Javier's personality in general, AKA a lil' wild.

His presidential victory was seen as game-changing -- but mostly because he's a bit like Donald Trump, in that he's aiming to deregulate much of Argentina's government and ring in a new economic philosophy. Basically, he wants to make Argentina self-sufficient and lean.

He thinks he's already on course to do just that ... a few weeks ago, he devalued Argentina's currency by a whopping 50% -- which Javier says is going to help stabilize their economy.

Jill Biden isn't pumping the brakes on her SoulCycle obsession anytime soon -- surprising spin enthusiasts in L.A. by dropping into an early morning class for those much-needed endorphins.

Sources tell TMZ the First Lady's suited and booted Secret Service agents arrived first to the trendy cycling chain's 7 AM class in Brentwood earlier this month ... wanding down everyone and informing them a VIP would be in class.

Upon entering, Jill settled onto bike no. 42 -- at the back, right by the Secret Service team at the entrance ... just in case she needed to make a speedy escape.

There was no theme for this SC class, though we're told at one point they rode to Janet Jackson's "Escapade" ... and Jill was, noticeably, in great shape.

She even appeared to make a friend ... fist-bumping a boy riding in front of her at the end of class, but there were no photos due to SC's no-phones-in-studio policy.

Jill attended the class in the middle of a jam-packed weekend of fundraising events with President Biden -- probably hoping for some me-time, as she's previously credited the spin classes for helping her find her "inner strength so she can be strong for everyone else."

President Biden is closing out the year on a one-on-one chat with the man upstairs -- and depending on where you land politically ... this could be interpreted a couple different ways.

Joe's down in the U.S. Virgin Islands right now with his family, where they touched down Wednesday in St. Croix ... and where JB here was seen visiting the Holy Cross Catholic Church in the city of Christiansted Saturday ... popping out with a wave and a smile.

He was being tailed by a ton of Secret Service agents, of course ... a few whom looked like they came straight from MIB headquarters. No sign of Jill or the other Bidens here with him -- although, they were right by his side when they landed last week on Air Force One.

On its face, this is just another holy Biden outing ... nothing all that crazy coming from a guy who's famously religious and who frequents churches quite a bit in his spare time.

Now, on the flip side ... some might see this as a sign that the dude's saying his prayers for a potentially rocky 2024 -- especially as the next presidential election starts to take shape.

So far, it's looking like Joe will face off with Donald Trump again -- that is, unless he isn't convicted and jailed first ... or if he's successfully kept off certain states' primary ballots, all of which remains to be seen at this point. Numbers-wise, DT is far and away the GOP fave.

As for JB and how he's faring in the polls ... it ain't that great -- as there doesn't seem to be too much enthusiasm about a second Biden term, even among people in his own party.

Uncle Joe's had a bit of an up-and-down presidency 3 years in, but the one thing he's got going for him is that he's ... not being prosecuted, on a number of fronts. Still, POTUS has some fires to put out with his base if he's gonna win 'em over come election day in Nov.

Don Lemon says the most detrimental presidential candidate Americans could elect isn't Donald Trump ... but rather Nikki Haley.

The former CNN host joined us Friday on "TMZ Live," and said he thinks there's good reason to sound an alarm on Haley's campaign ... saying she's a more dangerous candidate than Trump.

Don says it's a case of the devil you know versus the devil you don't ... calling out Haley for being unclear on her views, flip-flopping on Trump's insurrection and ripping her track record on abortion and racism.

The way Don sees it ... we've already survived one Trump presidency, and Haley presents a new set of unknowns that might end up being worse than anything Trump ever did.

It's another shot at Haley from Don ... as we reported, he blasted her on social media Thursday for leaving slavery out of her answer on the cause of the Civil War.

Haley's apologized and asked for grace, something Don says is hypocritical.

Remember, Don and Nikki had beef when he was at CNN ... he called her past her prime, and says she showed him no grace for his poor choice of words ... which he's said was just a prime case of misspeaking on live television.

Don's speaking out on political issues for the first time since leaving his post at CNN ... and he says he can finally speak his mind about all candidates, including Republicans.

While he says he doesn't want Trump back in office, and Haley might be worse ... he tells us why Chris Christie is earning his respect, even though he disagrees with most of his policies.

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley may wanna get outta New Hampshire for good ... first she was roasted for her Civil War comments and now she got slammed by a nine-year-old for being a flip-flopper on Donald Trump!

In her latest Granite State headache, Haley was holding a campaign event Thursday in North Conway when a precocious adolescent named Adam grabbed the mic and unloaded on the former South Carolina governor.

Adam mentioned that Chris Christie – another 2024 Republican presidential challenger -- had called Haley a flip-flopper on pardoning Trump if he were convicted of a federal crime.

The boy told Haley he agreed with Christie and compared her to former Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry. As you may recall, Kerry lost the 2004 election to Republican rival George W. Bush after changing his position on numerous issues.

Haley began her response by saying she was proud Adam asked the question before defending herself on the "flip-flopper" claim.

She maintained her position that she thought Trump was the "right president at the right time" and agreed with many of his policies, but he's now become too chaotic and should not be put back in the White House.

She insisted Christie had become "obsessed" with Trump, while also scolding Adam for comparing her to serial flip-flopper Kerry. She then vowed to pardon Trump if he were convicted because it would be in the best interest of the country.

Haley's latest migraine came just one day after she flubbed her answer on what caused the American Civil War. At a campaign stop in Berlin, NH, Haley left out the fact that slavery triggered the bloody conflict between the Union and the Confederacy in the 1800s.

As a result, Haley was blasted by the media and most everyone else. Even former CNN anchor Don Lemon gave Haley a shot for her slavery SNAFU, saying she did not show him any grace when he said she was past her prime during a live TV broadcast.

Haley has since clarified her comments, expressing that slavery sparked the Civil War, but that there’s a larger picture about the role the government plays in our lives.

Don Lemon hasn't forgotten about his clash with Nikki Haley earlier this year ... bringing it up as a way to diss her over fumbling a question about the cause of the Civil War.

The former CNN anchor is ripping Nikki for asking for grace for omitting slavery from her answer ... he says she was quick to pounce on him when he called her past "her prime" earlier this year on CNN, and didn't leave him room to ask for grace.

As you know ... Nikki is catching tons of flak for not mentioning slavery as a catalyst for the Civil War in response to a question on the presidential campaign trail.

Nikki's since backtracked, telling CNN she didn't mention slavery because she thought it was so obvious.

Don says he's glad she's clarified her remarks ... adding, "In the spirit of the season, let's see if her actions match her corrected words moving forward."