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