When it comes to speaking out about issues that plague the black community, T.I. is a voice that is never silent. The rapper has often received criticism for how he handles social justice issues, including being ridiculed after vying for black people to boycott Gucci following the brand’s allegations of racism. However, it hasn’t deterred the ExpediTIously podcast host from speaking out about political issues, and as he battles President Donald Trump over the use of his song “Whatever You Like,” T.I. has also called for the public to participate in “#BlackoutDay2020.”

 
Matt Winkelmeyer / Staff / Getty Images

“BLACKOUT DAY JULY 7, 2020,” a message on his Instagram account reads. “This is a call to action!! We need one day of solidarity in America when not one black person in America spends a dollar. This includes Africans, Native Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics…ALL people of color. Together we have 3.9 trillion dollars in economic spending power. That’s $10,684,931,506.80 it’s going to cost per day next time a person of color gets shot!!! We call it #BLACKOUTDAY2020 July 7th, 2020 please spread the message, and let’s show REAL action that they fear!!!!”

T.I. added in the caption, “Nobody spend SH*T on this day‼️ IF you Give AF about the murders,lynchings,& oppression of people of color!!! #USorELSE✊? #BlackoutDay2020 #July7th.” Check it out below and let us know if you’ll be boycotting alongside T.I.

Trump once again continues to distinguish his reign as President by breaking a White House tradition and refusing to hold a ceremony for the unveiling of Barack Obama’s White House portrait. 

A report published Tuesday morning stated that even if Trump had held the ceremony, Obama would not be interested in attending. 

Obama held a ceremony for the unveiling of predecessor George Bush’s portrait back in 2012 at the White House and the tradition has been recognized by both parties for over 40 years now. This marks the first time since the start of the tradition a president has refused to unveil a portrait. Ceremonies for the unveiling of the preceding president’s portrait has been a White House tradition since 1978, when President Jimmy Carter invited President Gerald Ford back to celebrate the uncovering of his painting. 

Trump and Obama have a notoriously tense relationship, perhaps the tensest of any presidents in US history. Back when Trump was just a socialite, he pushed racist conspiracies regarding Obama’s true place of birth. Trump has even tried to blame the former President for issues with COVID-19 testing. 

Neither the White House or Obama has commented on the situation, but the President did share his unorthodox method for coronavirus prevention this past Monday. 

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President Donald Trump continues to make headlines for his coronavirus response, this time for his unorthodox method of COVID-19 prevention he shared in a press conference on Monday. 

The President said in a press conference on Monday that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to prevent malaria, for about a week and a half to lessen symptoms of coronavirus should he get the virus.

“You’d be surprised how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers,” Trump told the press, “I happen to be taking it, I’m taking it. Hydroxychloroquine.” Trump had previously pushed the drug as a potential cure for COVID-19 despite cautionary advice from other medical experts that show the drug is not effective against the virus and may even be harmful. While a White House doctor provided Trump with the medicine, the doctor does not recommend it. 

The FDA has stated that there is no evidence that the drug can actually help minimize the risk of contracting coronavirus. 

“I think it’s good, I’ve heard a lot of good stories,” Trump added. “And if it’s not good, I’ll tell you right, I’m not going to get hurt by it. It’s been around for 40 years.” 

Trump claims a doctor in New York wrote a letter to him explaining how he has prescribed the drug to over 300 patients and not one has got sick. 

This news comes as states around the country move to open up their economies again. 

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Donald Trump’s campaign rallies daily press briefings may no longer be a thing anymore. On Saturday, Trump tweeted that the news conferences were “not worth the time & effort” after his comments about injecting disinfectant brought about a ton of negative criticism this week. Although he would love to keep his “ratings” up & keep doing them, reports say these briefings have been hurting his overall ratings and he’s been told by his administration to stop them, especially after his latest suggestion of injecting UV light and disinfectants.

While Trump wasn’t present at yesterday’s White House COVID-19 briefing, he did take to Twitter to blast the media for asking “hostile questions” at the conferences and spreading “fake news.”

“What is the purpose of having White House News Conferences when the Lamestream Media asks nothing but hostile questions, & then refuses to report the truth or facts accurately,” he wrote. “They get record ratings, & the American people get nothing but Fake News. Not worth the time & effort!”

Kodak Black apparently has such a brilliant idea that he wants to get in touch with the President of the United States. On Sunday, the Florida rapper shared a statement on his Instagram page, his lawyer, that asks President Trump to come pull up to his prison so he could run it by him. Kodak being funny, even said he’ll have his “corona mask” on, before adding that it has nothing to do with his wrongful conviction. He concludes his message by saying if it’s not worth anything to the President, he could kill him.

“Tell Donald trump to pull up on me, i got a brilliant idea. I thought of something back in Miami but I dismissed kuz I B thinking I’m crazy sometimes. This shit keeps following me tho! This ain’t got nothing to do with my wrongful conviction, come see me i got my corona mask on. @realdonaldtrump if it’s not worth anything, you can kill me! Im ill forreal.” It’s safe to say President Trump won’t be stopping by the prison, but one has to wonder what Kodak’s “brilliant idea” is or why he’s asking Trump?

Check out the post (below) and sound off in the comments.

Kodak is currently behind bars at the moment serving his 46-month prison sentence on federal weapons charges. We’ll continue to keep you posted on his whereabouts moving forward.

Nicholas Hunt/ Getty Images

It looks like there are some people who actually took President Trump’s advise this week when he mentioned the idiotic idea of injecting disinfectant into your body to help fight Covid-19. According to a report from The Daily News, the state of NY has seen a sudden spike in people calling in about ingesting bleach or other household cleaners in the 18 hours following President Trump’s bogus claim.

As many as 30 people have called into the health officials over fears that they had ingested bleach or other household cleaners, particularly Lysol. Thankfully, none of the people who reached out died or required hospitalization, the spokesman said.

“To be clear, disinfectants are not intended for ingestion either by mouth, by ears, by breathing them in any way, shape or form,” New York City Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot tweeted on Friday. “Doing so can put people at great risk.”

In addition, more than 100 calls were made to Maryland’s state’s emergency hotline in the wake of Trump’s controversial statement. The state of Maryland had to send out an alert after people kept calling, questioning the advice on consuming disinfectant as a possible treatment to the deadly virus.

You just might see BlocBoy JB sporting a MAGA hat in the near future, as the rapper tweeted out his growing fondness for President Donald Trump on Friday. As coronavirus spreads worldwide, many have taken issue with the ways in which certain government officials have been handling the global pandemic, including the Trump administration in the United States. Most recently, folks have been criticizing Trump for lashing out at an NBC reporter, Peter Alexander, who merely asked the president what he would say to Americans who are scared about coronavirus. Trump began dunking on Alexander, calling him a "terrible reporter" and denouncing him for asking such a "nasty question." Alexander went on to issue an apology, but many were frankly appalled at Trump's disrespectful response.

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However, it appears that a certain Memphis rapper feels differently about the POTUS. It looks like BlocBoy JB, who nearly lost his life last week after jumping off of a second story balcony into a pool and almost hitting the pavement, has taken notice of Trump as of late, and the artist likes how he moves. While he doesn't mention the incident with the reporter specifically, BlocBoy took to Twitter to share his changing views on Trump, telling his followers that he's actually "starting to like" him.

President Trump decided to call out New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Twitter Tuesday morning, after Cuomo called Trump’s response to the coronavirus “inexcusable” during a press conference Monday. Trump, most likely sitting on the toilet, had another series of tweets a little while ago, asking Governor Cuomo to keep politics out of it. During his hypocritical tweet, Trump continued his deflection of his poor handling of the pandemic by referring to the coronavirus as “The Chinese Virus” too, not wanting to take any responsibility for his delayed actions.

At 7:22 this morning, Trump tweeted: “Cuomo wants “all states to be treated the same.” But all states aren’t the same. Some are being hit hard by the Chinese Virus, some are being hit practically not at all. New York is a very big “hotspot”, West Virginia has, thus far, zero cases. Andrew, keep politics out of it.”

On Monday, President Trump gave another update on the Coronavirus crisis from the White House, in which he revealed that we could be dealing with this scare through the Summer. When asked about when he sees the pandemic turning the corner, Trump said that if all goes well, it could last until July or August.

“If we do a really good job, we’ll not only hold the death down to a level that is much lower than the other way, had we not done a good job, but people are talking about July, August, something like that.... Could be longer than that. But I've asked that question many, many times.”

In the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, following news that Rudy Gobert had tested positive, all major sports elected to suspend, or delay the start of, their respective seasons. This includes the NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS, as well as the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments, and more.

One of the few sports that won't be suspending or cancelling their planned events is the UFC. According to UFC President Dana White, President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence advised him to move forward with their upcoming schedule.

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

White tells ESPN that Trump and Pence advised him to "Be cautious, be careful, but live your life and stop panicking.”

“[The UFC] always go overboard with health and safety, and that’s what we’re going to do here,” White said (H/T Yahoo Sports). “I talked to the president and the vice president of the United States today about this. They’re taking this very serious. They’re saying ‘Be cautious, be careful, but live your life and stop panicking.’”

“Everybody is panicking, and instead of panicking, we’re actually getting out there and working with doctors and health officials and the government to figure out how we keep the sport safe and how we can continue to put on events.”

As a result, Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 170: Brasilia (airing on ESPN+) will go on, although there won't be any spectators allowed inside the venue. Additionally, White says other events could be moved from to the UFC APEX arena in Las Vegas.