June 30, 2026
UPDATE: NJ Congressman Missing For 4 Months, Will FINALLY Explain Absence Today
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RSS Feed All eyes will be on Capitol Hill today to finally see 57-year-old Tom Kean Jr return to work, after a months-long mysterious disappearance from the public eye. Kean hasn’t been seen publicly since March 5th and has missed more than 100 votes over the past four months. The congressman is running for reelection in a hotly contested seat, so he has a lot of explaining to do, not only to his colleagues, but more importantly, to his constituents, Kean has only said that he was being treated for an unspecified medical condition, but has promised to reveal all in a floor speech in Congress today.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, the folks, it is Tuesday, June thirtieth.
00:00:05
Speaker 2: And he's back. The mystery of the missing congressman is supposed to be solved in a matter of hours. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.
00:00:18
Speaker 1: What's the count.
00:00:18
Speaker 2: He hasn't been seen since now, literally not been seen since when.
00:00:24
Speaker 3: The public March fifth.
00:00:26
Speaker 1: Nobody's laid eyes on him. Literally has not been seen.
00:00:30
Speaker 4: Last week you had a New York Times reporter see him through the window of his home for the first time in a brightly lit room. Even that sounds crazy, and they were able to report the had a suit and tie on, which was even stranger.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: This is where we are.
00:00:44
Speaker 2: This guy has This is not just a matter of not showing up to work robes. He hasn't seemingly stepped foot out the house, even to grab a Starbucks.
00:00:52
Speaker 4: People have no idea not only what he's been doing, what's been going on with him physically, medically, but they don't know where he is or has been for all of these months, nearly four months, not one reporter and you know how nosy we are, have been trying to track him down. They have gone to every place that was possibly known that he's been to, that he owns, that his family's associated with. They could not figure out where this man has been. It has been a mystery that no one has been able to solve.
00:01:29
Speaker 2: But he is going to solve it himself today, Robes, all questions will be answered, hopefully. But we're talking about New Jersey Republican Congressman Tom Kane Junior.
00:01:41
Speaker 1: Robes.
00:01:41
Speaker 2: He has been a story for a long time, and today is the day he says he is finally going back to work and we are going to hear from him. His colleagues are going to be hear from him. He apparently has a busy day, even though we don't exactly know what the schedule is. But Robes, just the fact that he's going to be in DC is a story today.
00:01:59
Speaker 4: I have to admit I've marked this day on my calendars because I am fascinated with not just the fact that, yes, people have things come up, they've had medical issues. You have to go away for a while and do what needs to be done, whether it's treatment or but to not explain yourself when you are a congressman, working for a district and running for reelection is unprecedented. Why wouldn't you be transparent If you're going through something, you tell your voters, the people who you serve, what's happening so that they can understand where you've been.
00:02:35
Speaker 1: That adds to the mystery.
00:02:37
Speaker 2: We have seen plenty of people, whether they're celebrities and yes, politicians, they share their struggles, their medical struggles, struggles, sometimes their mental health struggles. Yes, they share this thing to I don't know's I won't say win favor, but Robe. That makes them more relatable. They've overcome something and it makes you a little more sympathetic. So if he Robes is not sharing what's going on, that has added to the mystery of oh my.
00:03:05
Speaker 1: God, what could it be?
00:03:08
Speaker 3: Right? And it's not sure?
00:03:09
Speaker 2: Rises to that level that I can't say anything.
00:03:12
Speaker 3: Yet. You can't even see him. We couldn't even see what he looked like during this time.
00:03:16
Speaker 4: We didn't hear anything from him, and not from his wife, not from his staff, not from his famous father, who is the most popular Republican New Jersey governor.
00:03:26
Speaker 3: Ever. They've all been.
00:03:28
Speaker 4: Asked, and they've all been very vague, incredibly vague. So yes, we know he has an unspecified or he had an unspecified medical condition. He missed more than one hundred votes in Congress, and he wants people to re elect him. I mean, imagine, you don't show up for your job, you don't explain why you don't show up for your job, you don't participate in voting, which is kind of the whole point of your job, and you want people to put you back in office.
00:03:55
Speaker 2: Well, today he is going to at least ropes. He has to explain why. And people are forget when you're going through things, but they're forgiving when they understand what you're going through. Have some idea. There's mystery, you know, there's so much mystery that it lends itself to secrecy.
00:04:10
Speaker 1: That's different.
00:04:12
Speaker 3: You're right, that's a really good way to put it.
00:04:14
Speaker 4: It's different to be private versus secret, and it feels more of the ladder of the two.
00:04:19
Speaker 3: Now Here is the latest.
00:04:20
Speaker 4: I kind of referenced it at the top, but CNN literally yesterday. I mean everyone's been trying to stalk out to stalk him and where he is and trying to figure out what's going on. But they actually saw him again, they said the reporter said he was sitting on the stoop of his home.
00:04:35
Speaker 3: With his wife.
00:04:36
Speaker 4: When he saw the reporter, he got up and walked inside, but he waved walked inside his home and then sent out a spokesperson to the reporter, and that spokesperson told CNN that the congressman is planning to deliver a floor speech today to members of Congress to address all of the mystery.
00:04:57
Speaker 3: Okay, and so.
00:04:58
Speaker 4: That interaction via his spokesperson is only the second time he's even been seen since March fifth, because yes, the week before, a New York Times reporter, as I said, saw him through the window.
00:05:12
Speaker 2: Through the window of his home.
00:05:15
Speaker 3: It's funny.
00:05:15
Speaker 4: The New York Times reporter said it was a brightly lit room because he didn't want to seem extra creepy, but he was kind of like, you know, when someone turns the lights on and they're in a bright room, you can obviously see from the outside.
00:05:26
Speaker 3: But yeah, he was absolutely being kind of creepy.
00:05:28
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I got I could have seen more, but I had a hard time seeing through the bush that was covering the window that I was speaking through.
00:05:35
Speaker 4: Did go up to the door, he rang the doorbell, and the uh he said, the congressman said, he said, it's good to see you. He said the congressman was wearing a dark suit and a red tie because it literally he is the first person to have laid eyes on him since March.
00:05:49
Speaker 3: And he said.
00:05:50
Speaker 4: All the Congressman said was I'll talk to you next week, Thank you, and shut the door again.
00:05:55
Speaker 1: Even that rogues what is happened.
00:05:57
Speaker 2: Look, the answers are going to be there later, but the speculation is run rampant.
00:06:01
Speaker 4: Okay, and can you this is one of my most This was the point where I was really intrigued. One of the one of the statements from Cain's chief of staff created even more mystery. He said, when people were asking where is the congressman, where is Tom Kane? His explanation, there are no cameras where Tom is.
00:06:23
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
00:06:24
Speaker 4: That threw everybody off, so wild theories ensued.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: You could apply, i mean, insert anything there where cameras aren't allowed.
00:06:34
Speaker 3: The hospital, a botched plastic surgery job.
00:06:37
Speaker 4: People even suspected he might show up in Congress as a woman. He had a gender change operation. People thought maybe he was in rehab. He had some sort of either substance abuse or some sort of addiction of some kind. They thought maybe there was a stroke and I actually thought that too, because if he didn't want to be seen, then it's it makes sense that people thought, well, there must be something physically disfiguring about him, or something so different or so jarring that he wouldn't want to be in public. Yet people who the two reporters who have seen him did not report that he looked any different, so that all of those theories are pretty much done.
00:07:13
Speaker 2: He was able to speak to reply to say hello or I'll talk to you next week, Robes, why he hasn't or maybe there is something Robes, That's all he could muster as far as speaking. Maybe there's something going on with this speech or there has because it doesn't make sense if you look okay and your voice is working, you get on social media and say hey, I'll check in with you later.
00:07:31
Speaker 1: You don't have to give all the details.
00:07:33
Speaker 2: Why has he refused, Robes to refuse to.
00:07:37
Speaker 3: Be seen exactly?
00:07:39
Speaker 4: And a lot of members of Progress who thought that they were friends of his, many of them during this these months, have reported that he has not answered their emails, he has not returned their calls or returned their messages. There's been no contact, and that's really ruffled their feathers, and I mentioned the reporters trying to find him. Look, he has not been at his home and that he was just seen at. He has not been there. He has not been at his family's vacation home, which is in Bayhead, New Jersey. Year round residents of Fisher's Island, New York, where the Cane family owns a large estate, says they have not seen him either. I mean they went to every place that's known that he would frequent or he would have a place to stay to recover from whatever.
00:08:21
Speaker 3: He was not at any of those residences.
00:08:24
Speaker 2: Sure, I mean, surely we have to see him. As we're recording this this morning. He has to be in d C on his way to the Capitol. Surely we'll get pictures or something ahead of time. He has to walk into the Capitol building. He has to be seen. He has to be around colleagues. So I guess we'll start getting something. But just to lay eyes on him, I mean, I hope he's okay. Robes with this, And I'm gonna ask you this at a later point, But there is a question and how much privacy are you're entitled to when you are a public servant? When you're a celebrity, when you're in the public eye in some way, how much how much do you are you in titled too? Is he entitled to this much? Or can you make an argument that what he is doing is wrong? No matter what's happening with him, you're in a different space and you have to give more than you've given.
00:09:11
Speaker 4: Well, I think that that will be up to the voters of his district in New Jersey, because they're the ones who you could argue you have been underserved, have been unrepresented by a man who has refused to give a reason why up until today.
00:09:23
Speaker 2: It has to be a big reason. It's almost hate to say it, like you, this better be good. Yeah, it needs to rise to a level that we go ooh god, goodness, my god, it's awful. What to He needs explanation that lends to some kind of forgiveness robes for how he has handled this.
00:09:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm trying to.
00:09:42
Speaker 4: I have racked my brain trying to figure out because the stroke was the best thing I could come up with, like a Bell's palsy situation.
00:09:50
Speaker 3: Anyone who has.
00:09:51
Speaker 4: Ever had a friend, I actually had a friend and a colleague who went through this and it is temporarily disfiguring half your faces. But I also feel like, look, I understand to each his own in terms of how comfortable you are being seen. But even something like that would have been, like you said, not you're looking for a pity vote, but it would have garnered sympathy, and you would have been able to maybe even speak up or speak for people.
00:10:13
Speaker 3: Who are also suffering something similar.
00:10:15
Speaker 4: So I'm just curious if it was something like that or some sort of illness, why there would have been just a great benefit to have been communicative during that time and just let people know where you are and actually just let people root for you or support you. So it just none of that makes any sense to me politically or even personally. And we don't know what people are going through, but this just I cannot come up with a scenario that makes logical sense.
00:10:42
Speaker 1: That's That's a good point, Robes.
00:10:45
Speaker 2: It he's gonna say something or he has to say something today that we all go, okay, I understand. I don't know what that could be. I don't know what I would understand. I don't know, Robes. And again the theory about him showing up as a woman, I was like, Okay, I'll listen to that one because he doesn't want to be seen. But then they said he opened a damn door with a suit and tie. Yep, looking like Tom.
00:11:09
Speaker 3: Kin, looking like Tom Kaine Junior. All right, when we come back.
00:11:11
Speaker 4: Despite all of this, President Trump formerly endorsed Tom Kine just last month, in.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: The midst of all of this.
00:11:20
Speaker 4: We'll tell you what's at stake if anything goes wrong for Tom Kane Junior. Today, welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ.
00:11:38
Speaker 3: It is a big day on Capitol Hill. Today.
00:11:41
Speaker 4: All eyes and a lot of cameras will be pointed at Capitol Hill waiting to get their first glimpse, maybe even ask their first questions of missing Congressman Tom Kane Junior from New Jersey.
00:11:54
Speaker 1: Voluntarily missing.
00:11:56
Speaker 2: By the way, when we say missing, it's not like he disappeared off a hiking trail.
00:11:59
Speaker 4: He volunte terribly disappeared. That's actually a very good way to put it. But yeah, we saw in May, Trump went on to truth Social. This is my favorite part as he endorsed him. He said the congress member was working tirelessly. That was he actually put that in his truth Social post. Not really sure what he was referencing, because a lot of folks would say.
00:12:20
Speaker 3: All working when, where in what capacity?
00:12:25
Speaker 4: But yeah, he won his Republican nomination officially on June second, earlier this month.
00:12:30
Speaker 3: Obviously, he ran.
00:12:31
Speaker 4: On a pose that might be the only reason why he felt so comfortable not making any appearances at all.
00:12:38
Speaker 2: That's a good point, you know. I wonder how it would have been different had he had an opponent.
00:12:42
Speaker 3: It would have had to be different.
00:12:44
Speaker 4: But Democrats elected Rebecca Bennett, She's a former Navy helicopter pilot, to run against him, and they really think, especially given Caine's unexplained absence, that this.
00:12:54
Speaker 3: Could be one of their best shots.
00:12:56
Speaker 4: At picking up another seat in the House.
00:12:59
Speaker 3: Which could tip the balance of power.
00:13:01
Speaker 4: So yes, there is a lot at stake, and that is why President Trump and certainly other Republicans are trying to understand and support what could possibly be going on.
00:13:12
Speaker 3: And I do think this is a note.
00:13:14
Speaker 4: His opponents, there were several up until the primary, but certainly Rebecca Bennett herself, they have shied away from going after him because they are they are aware he could have a really good reason why, And you don't want to be seen as the person attacking a man who is medically struggling. So everyone's been tiptoeing around him because they don't know the why, and they're afraid of regretting anything they might say prematurely.
00:13:42
Speaker 2: I don't think it's a criticism, bro. I get that it's not a criticism to point out just facts, and you can still say that's a question, well how much privacy are you afforded or entitled to? But I think it's it's okay to say I really hope he's okay. Hey, I really want him to be okay, and look forward to hearing it and hopefully we can have a vigorous debate through this campaign season. But right now, this district is not being represented. It hasn't since March. They haven't had a representative vote on their behalf in one hundred and fifty votes.
00:14:17
Speaker 3: And that is such a fair point to make.
00:14:19
Speaker 1: That's fair. That's just fair.
00:14:21
Speaker 2: And look when I hope he's okay, and maybe he can answer for why, but I think it's legit robes for his opponent to do it in a tasteful way, and to do it the same way the voters would look at it. Look, we hope you're okay, but please explain to us what the hell's going on?
00:14:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, and certainly after today when we get that explanation, you know, this is going to be such a huge part of this campaign going forward. I actually I'm so happy that I don't have a television set in New Jersey because can you imagine what those ads are going.
00:14:49
Speaker 3: To be like once they know what they're working for?
00:14:53
Speaker 1: Oh my god, if.
00:14:53
Speaker 4: They have any way, and like you said, you could even do it delicately acknowledging that someone's going through something.
00:14:59
Speaker 3: But look, for many people, we don't know what he's gone through.
00:15:03
Speaker 4: But so many people who have gone through medical battles publicly or just through their they don't have the option not to go to work. You know, you might have a cancer diagnosis and have to go through chemo and be like, you might have no hair and look sick, and still you got to show up.
00:15:17
Speaker 3: To work because you've got to pay your bills.
00:15:18
Speaker 4: So I don't know how much sympathy he'll get because so many people have walked that walk, and I don't know. Maybe he'll say something that will make it all make sense. But the last thing we heard from him was on primary day, he released a statement and I thought maybe we could just this is all we know from where he is, He said, I am more energized than ever to keep fighting for the people of New Jersey's seventh District. Right now, I am focused on my recovery, and under the advice of healthcare professionals, I will transition from virtual work to in person work within a matter of weeks. At that time, I will be completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition. Once again, I appreciate all of the prayers and patients from my constituents and colleagues. I understand the need for transparency on this matter, and I look forward to sharing my experience with the public.
00:16:12
Speaker 2: Okay, transparency. When he chooses to be transparent, it is okay. And again, robes he does, he has, Yes, he's entitled robes.
00:16:21
Speaker 1: Whatever he's going through, it's okay.
00:16:24
Speaker 2: It's not he No matter what he's going through, he can still be criticized for how he's handled his job exactly. And you talked about robes. Everybody else having to show up to work, and people go through things. No matter what, we've seen all kinds of hell. Hell, you've gone through all kinds of hell and still got to show up to work, and still show up to work. It's not showing up to work, Robes. It's not just that, it's calling your employer and explaining why you're absent. For that is such a good point since March. That's all that I would argue, Robes, no matter what the condition is, is worthy of critique.
00:17:00
Speaker 4: And that's a really good way to put it, because I think we all have big hearts. We understand life happens and things get messy, and sometimes you do have.
00:17:07
Speaker 3: To take a leave of absence.
00:17:08
Speaker 4: But even if you're a kid going to school, you have to have an excused absence, like there has to be a reason given oh what.
00:17:14
Speaker 1: Take call it, Robes accountability.
00:17:17
Speaker 2: Even the sixth grader has it right, So that part is confusing. And if there's a reason as to why, he couldn't say more willing to listen to all that willing to listen. But man, this is you're right, ro This is a most people know his dad versus him, but the name is a big deal up here at least where we live, but a lot of people not familiar with him all over the country.
00:17:37
Speaker 1: This is the story of the day right now in DC.
00:17:39
Speaker 2: Oh, with all going out, with all going on in DC, this is the story.
00:17:45
Speaker 3: All right.
00:17:46
Speaker 4: Well, we will be watching and we will hop back on as soon as we get some sort of answer from Tom Kane Junior. Until then, though, we always appreciate you listening to us. I made me roback alongside TJ. Holmes.
00:17:57
Speaker 3: We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey, the folks, it is Tuesday, June thirtieth.
00:00:05
Speaker 2: And he's back. The mystery of the missing congressman is supposed to be solved in a matter of hours. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.
00:00:18
Speaker 1: What's the count.
00:00:18
Speaker 2: He hasn't been seen since now, literally not been seen since when.
00:00:24
Speaker 3: The public March fifth.
00:00:26
Speaker 1: Nobody's laid eyes on him. Literally has not been seen.
00:00:30
Speaker 4: Last week you had a New York Times reporter see him through the window of his home for the first time in a brightly lit room. Even that sounds crazy, and they were able to report the had a suit and tie on, which was even stranger.
00:00:43
Speaker 1: This is where we are.
00:00:44
Speaker 2: This guy has This is not just a matter of not showing up to work robes. He hasn't seemingly stepped foot out the house, even to grab a Starbucks.
00:00:52
Speaker 4: People have no idea not only what he's been doing, what's been going on with him physically, medically, but they don't know where he is or has been for all of these months, nearly four months, not one reporter and you know how nosy we are, have been trying to track him down. They have gone to every place that was possibly known that he's been to, that he owns, that his family's associated with. They could not figure out where this man has been. It has been a mystery that no one has been able to solve.
00:01:29
Speaker 2: But he is going to solve it himself today, Robes, all questions will be answered, hopefully. But we're talking about New Jersey Republican Congressman Tom Kane Junior.
00:01:41
Speaker 1: Robes.
00:01:41
Speaker 2: He has been a story for a long time, and today is the day he says he is finally going back to work and we are going to hear from him. His colleagues are going to be hear from him. He apparently has a busy day, even though we don't exactly know what the schedule is. But Robes, just the fact that he's going to be in DC is a story today.
00:01:59
Speaker 4: I have to admit I've marked this day on my calendars because I am fascinated with not just the fact that, yes, people have things come up, they've had medical issues. You have to go away for a while and do what needs to be done, whether it's treatment or but to not explain yourself when you are a congressman, working for a district and running for reelection is unprecedented. Why wouldn't you be transparent If you're going through something, you tell your voters, the people who you serve, what's happening so that they can understand where you've been.
00:02:35
Speaker 1: That adds to the mystery.
00:02:37
Speaker 2: We have seen plenty of people, whether they're celebrities and yes, politicians, they share their struggles, their medical struggles, struggles, sometimes their mental health struggles. Yes, they share this thing to I don't know's I won't say win favor, but Robe. That makes them more relatable. They've overcome something and it makes you a little more sympathetic. So if he Robes is not sharing what's going on, that has added to the mystery of oh my.
00:03:05
Speaker 1: God, what could it be?
00:03:08
Speaker 3: Right? And it's not sure?
00:03:09
Speaker 2: Rises to that level that I can't say anything.
00:03:12
Speaker 3: Yet. You can't even see him. We couldn't even see what he looked like during this time.
00:03:16
Speaker 4: We didn't hear anything from him, and not from his wife, not from his staff, not from his famous father, who is the most popular Republican New Jersey governor.
00:03:26
Speaker 3: Ever. They've all been.
00:03:28
Speaker 4: Asked, and they've all been very vague, incredibly vague. So yes, we know he has an unspecified or he had an unspecified medical condition. He missed more than one hundred votes in Congress, and he wants people to re elect him. I mean, imagine, you don't show up for your job, you don't explain why you don't show up for your job, you don't participate in voting, which is kind of the whole point of your job, and you want people to put you back in office.
00:03:55
Speaker 2: Well, today he is going to at least ropes. He has to explain why. And people are forget when you're going through things, but they're forgiving when they understand what you're going through. Have some idea. There's mystery, you know, there's so much mystery that it lends itself to secrecy.
00:04:10
Speaker 1: That's different.
00:04:12
Speaker 3: You're right, that's a really good way to put it.
00:04:14
Speaker 4: It's different to be private versus secret, and it feels more of the ladder of the two.
00:04:19
Speaker 3: Now Here is the latest.
00:04:20
Speaker 4: I kind of referenced it at the top, but CNN literally yesterday. I mean everyone's been trying to stalk out to stalk him and where he is and trying to figure out what's going on. But they actually saw him again, they said the reporter said he was sitting on the stoop of his home.
00:04:35
Speaker 3: With his wife.
00:04:36
Speaker 4: When he saw the reporter, he got up and walked inside, but he waved walked inside his home and then sent out a spokesperson to the reporter, and that spokesperson told CNN that the congressman is planning to deliver a floor speech today to members of Congress to address all of the mystery.
00:04:57
Speaker 3: Okay, and so.
00:04:58
Speaker 4: That interaction via his spokesperson is only the second time he's even been seen since March fifth, because yes, the week before, a New York Times reporter, as I said, saw him through the window.
00:05:12
Speaker 2: Through the window of his home.
00:05:15
Speaker 3: It's funny.
00:05:15
Speaker 4: The New York Times reporter said it was a brightly lit room because he didn't want to seem extra creepy, but he was kind of like, you know, when someone turns the lights on and they're in a bright room, you can obviously see from the outside.
00:05:26
Speaker 3: But yeah, he was absolutely being kind of creepy.
00:05:28
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I got I could have seen more, but I had a hard time seeing through the bush that was covering the window that I was speaking through.
00:05:35
Speaker 4: Did go up to the door, he rang the doorbell, and the uh he said, the congressman said, he said, it's good to see you. He said the congressman was wearing a dark suit and a red tie because it literally he is the first person to have laid eyes on him since March.
00:05:49
Speaker 3: And he said.
00:05:50
Speaker 4: All the Congressman said was I'll talk to you next week, Thank you, and shut the door again.
00:05:55
Speaker 1: Even that rogues what is happened.
00:05:57
Speaker 2: Look, the answers are going to be there later, but the speculation is run rampant.
00:06:01
Speaker 4: Okay, and can you this is one of my most This was the point where I was really intrigued. One of the one of the statements from Cain's chief of staff created even more mystery. He said, when people were asking where is the congressman, where is Tom Kane? His explanation, there are no cameras where Tom is.
00:06:23
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
00:06:24
Speaker 4: That threw everybody off, so wild theories ensued.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: You could apply, i mean, insert anything there where cameras aren't allowed.
00:06:34
Speaker 3: The hospital, a botched plastic surgery job.
00:06:37
Speaker 4: People even suspected he might show up in Congress as a woman. He had a gender change operation. People thought maybe he was in rehab. He had some sort of either substance abuse or some sort of addiction of some kind. They thought maybe there was a stroke and I actually thought that too, because if he didn't want to be seen, then it's it makes sense that people thought, well, there must be something physically disfiguring about him, or something so different or so jarring that he wouldn't want to be in public. Yet people who the two reporters who have seen him did not report that he looked any different, so that all of those theories are pretty much done.
00:07:13
Speaker 2: He was able to speak to reply to say hello or I'll talk to you next week, Robes, why he hasn't or maybe there is something Robes, That's all he could muster as far as speaking. Maybe there's something going on with this speech or there has because it doesn't make sense if you look okay and your voice is working, you get on social media and say hey, I'll check in with you later.
00:07:31
Speaker 1: You don't have to give all the details.
00:07:33
Speaker 2: Why has he refused, Robes to refuse to.
00:07:37
Speaker 3: Be seen exactly?
00:07:39
Speaker 4: And a lot of members of Progress who thought that they were friends of his, many of them during this these months, have reported that he has not answered their emails, he has not returned their calls or returned their messages. There's been no contact, and that's really ruffled their feathers, and I mentioned the reporters trying to find him. Look, he has not been at his home and that he was just seen at. He has not been there. He has not been at his family's vacation home, which is in Bayhead, New Jersey. Year round residents of Fisher's Island, New York, where the Cane family owns a large estate, says they have not seen him either. I mean they went to every place that's known that he would frequent or he would have a place to stay to recover from whatever.
00:08:21
Speaker 3: He was not at any of those residences.
00:08:24
Speaker 2: Sure, I mean, surely we have to see him. As we're recording this this morning. He has to be in d C on his way to the Capitol. Surely we'll get pictures or something ahead of time. He has to walk into the Capitol building. He has to be seen. He has to be around colleagues. So I guess we'll start getting something. But just to lay eyes on him, I mean, I hope he's okay. Robes with this, And I'm gonna ask you this at a later point, But there is a question and how much privacy are you're entitled to when you are a public servant? When you're a celebrity, when you're in the public eye in some way, how much how much do you are you in titled too? Is he entitled to this much? Or can you make an argument that what he is doing is wrong? No matter what's happening with him, you're in a different space and you have to give more than you've given.
00:09:11
Speaker 4: Well, I think that that will be up to the voters of his district in New Jersey, because they're the ones who you could argue you have been underserved, have been unrepresented by a man who has refused to give a reason why up until today.
00:09:23
Speaker 2: It has to be a big reason. It's almost hate to say it, like you, this better be good. Yeah, it needs to rise to a level that we go ooh god, goodness, my god, it's awful. What to He needs explanation that lends to some kind of forgiveness robes for how he has handled this.
00:09:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm trying to.
00:09:42
Speaker 4: I have racked my brain trying to figure out because the stroke was the best thing I could come up with, like a Bell's palsy situation.
00:09:50
Speaker 3: Anyone who has.
00:09:51
Speaker 4: Ever had a friend, I actually had a friend and a colleague who went through this and it is temporarily disfiguring half your faces. But I also feel like, look, I understand to each his own in terms of how comfortable you are being seen. But even something like that would have been, like you said, not you're looking for a pity vote, but it would have garnered sympathy, and you would have been able to maybe even speak up or speak for people.
00:10:13
Speaker 3: Who are also suffering something similar.
00:10:15
Speaker 4: So I'm just curious if it was something like that or some sort of illness, why there would have been just a great benefit to have been communicative during that time and just let people know where you are and actually just let people root for you or support you. So it just none of that makes any sense to me politically or even personally. And we don't know what people are going through, but this just I cannot come up with a scenario that makes logical sense.
00:10:42
Speaker 1: That's That's a good point, Robes.
00:10:45
Speaker 2: It he's gonna say something or he has to say something today that we all go, okay, I understand. I don't know what that could be. I don't know what I would understand. I don't know, Robes. And again the theory about him showing up as a woman, I was like, Okay, I'll listen to that one because he doesn't want to be seen. But then they said he opened a damn door with a suit and tie. Yep, looking like Tom.
00:11:09
Speaker 3: Kin, looking like Tom Kaine Junior. All right, when we come back.
00:11:11
Speaker 4: Despite all of this, President Trump formerly endorsed Tom Kine just last month, in.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: The midst of all of this.
00:11:20
Speaker 4: We'll tell you what's at stake if anything goes wrong for Tom Kane Junior. Today, welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ.
00:11:38
Speaker 3: It is a big day on Capitol Hill. Today.
00:11:41
Speaker 4: All eyes and a lot of cameras will be pointed at Capitol Hill waiting to get their first glimpse, maybe even ask their first questions of missing Congressman Tom Kane Junior from New Jersey.
00:11:54
Speaker 1: Voluntarily missing.
00:11:56
Speaker 2: By the way, when we say missing, it's not like he disappeared off a hiking trail.
00:11:59
Speaker 4: He volunte terribly disappeared. That's actually a very good way to put it. But yeah, we saw in May, Trump went on to truth Social. This is my favorite part as he endorsed him. He said the congress member was working tirelessly. That was he actually put that in his truth Social post. Not really sure what he was referencing, because a lot of folks would say.
00:12:20
Speaker 3: All working when, where in what capacity?
00:12:25
Speaker 4: But yeah, he won his Republican nomination officially on June second, earlier this month.
00:12:30
Speaker 3: Obviously, he ran.
00:12:31
Speaker 4: On a pose that might be the only reason why he felt so comfortable not making any appearances at all.
00:12:38
Speaker 2: That's a good point, you know. I wonder how it would have been different had he had an opponent.
00:12:42
Speaker 3: It would have had to be different.
00:12:44
Speaker 4: But Democrats elected Rebecca Bennett, She's a former Navy helicopter pilot, to run against him, and they really think, especially given Caine's unexplained absence, that this.
00:12:54
Speaker 3: Could be one of their best shots.
00:12:56
Speaker 4: At picking up another seat in the House.
00:12:59
Speaker 3: Which could tip the balance of power.
00:13:01
Speaker 4: So yes, there is a lot at stake, and that is why President Trump and certainly other Republicans are trying to understand and support what could possibly be going on.
00:13:12
Speaker 3: And I do think this is a note.
00:13:14
Speaker 4: His opponents, there were several up until the primary, but certainly Rebecca Bennett herself, they have shied away from going after him because they are they are aware he could have a really good reason why, And you don't want to be seen as the person attacking a man who is medically struggling. So everyone's been tiptoeing around him because they don't know the why, and they're afraid of regretting anything they might say prematurely.
00:13:42
Speaker 2: I don't think it's a criticism, bro. I get that it's not a criticism to point out just facts, and you can still say that's a question, well how much privacy are you afforded or entitled to? But I think it's it's okay to say I really hope he's okay. Hey, I really want him to be okay, and look forward to hearing it and hopefully we can have a vigorous debate through this campaign season. But right now, this district is not being represented. It hasn't since March. They haven't had a representative vote on their behalf in one hundred and fifty votes.
00:14:17
Speaker 3: And that is such a fair point to make.
00:14:19
Speaker 1: That's fair. That's just fair.
00:14:21
Speaker 2: And look when I hope he's okay, and maybe he can answer for why, but I think it's legit robes for his opponent to do it in a tasteful way, and to do it the same way the voters would look at it. Look, we hope you're okay, but please explain to us what the hell's going on?
00:14:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, and certainly after today when we get that explanation, you know, this is going to be such a huge part of this campaign going forward. I actually I'm so happy that I don't have a television set in New Jersey because can you imagine what those ads are going.
00:14:49
Speaker 3: To be like once they know what they're working for?
00:14:53
Speaker 1: Oh my god, if.
00:14:53
Speaker 4: They have any way, and like you said, you could even do it delicately acknowledging that someone's going through something.
00:14:59
Speaker 3: But look, for many people, we don't know what he's gone through.
00:15:03
Speaker 4: But so many people who have gone through medical battles publicly or just through their they don't have the option not to go to work. You know, you might have a cancer diagnosis and have to go through chemo and be like, you might have no hair and look sick, and still you got to show up.
00:15:17
Speaker 3: To work because you've got to pay your bills.
00:15:18
Speaker 4: So I don't know how much sympathy he'll get because so many people have walked that walk, and I don't know. Maybe he'll say something that will make it all make sense. But the last thing we heard from him was on primary day, he released a statement and I thought maybe we could just this is all we know from where he is, He said, I am more energized than ever to keep fighting for the people of New Jersey's seventh District. Right now, I am focused on my recovery, and under the advice of healthcare professionals, I will transition from virtual work to in person work within a matter of weeks. At that time, I will be completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition. Once again, I appreciate all of the prayers and patients from my constituents and colleagues. I understand the need for transparency on this matter, and I look forward to sharing my experience with the public.
00:16:12
Speaker 2: Okay, transparency. When he chooses to be transparent, it is okay. And again, robes he does, he has, Yes, he's entitled robes.
00:16:21
Speaker 1: Whatever he's going through, it's okay.
00:16:24
Speaker 2: It's not he No matter what he's going through, he can still be criticized for how he's handled his job exactly. And you talked about robes. Everybody else having to show up to work, and people go through things. No matter what, we've seen all kinds of hell. Hell, you've gone through all kinds of hell and still got to show up to work, and still show up to work. It's not showing up to work, Robes. It's not just that, it's calling your employer and explaining why you're absent. For that is such a good point since March. That's all that I would argue, Robes, no matter what the condition is, is worthy of critique.
00:17:00
Speaker 4: And that's a really good way to put it, because I think we all have big hearts. We understand life happens and things get messy, and sometimes you do have.
00:17:07
Speaker 3: To take a leave of absence.
00:17:08
Speaker 4: But even if you're a kid going to school, you have to have an excused absence, like there has to be a reason given oh what.
00:17:14
Speaker 1: Take call it, Robes accountability.
00:17:17
Speaker 2: Even the sixth grader has it right, So that part is confusing. And if there's a reason as to why, he couldn't say more willing to listen to all that willing to listen. But man, this is you're right, ro This is a most people know his dad versus him, but the name is a big deal up here at least where we live, but a lot of people not familiar with him all over the country.
00:17:37
Speaker 1: This is the story of the day right now in DC.
00:17:39
Speaker 2: Oh, with all going out, with all going on in DC, this is the story.
00:17:45
Speaker 3: All right.
00:17:46
Speaker 4: Well, we will be watching and we will hop back on as soon as we get some sort of answer from Tom Kane Junior. Until then, though, we always appreciate you listening to us. I made me roback alongside TJ. Holmes.
00:17:57
Speaker 3: We'll talk to you soon.