# How come there are no fun speculations about why Tom Kean Jr. has vanished? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 3, 2026, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589 "2026-06-03T14:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2026, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/101 "2026-06-27T02:36:28Z")
If 2020 taught us nothing else, it’s that you only need to be dressed from the waist up for online meetings. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/102 "2026-06-30T16:05:33Z")
According to MSNOW, he was being treated for depression: > **[Rep. Tom Kean Jr. returns to work after lengthy absence, points to depression...](https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/rep-tom-kean-jr-returns-speech-depression)** > > Nearly four months after stepping away from his congressional duties, the New Jersey Republican explained the illness that kept him away. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/103 "2026-06-30T16:20:28Z")
Huh. It’s sad that (at least as perceived by some), society hasn’t moved much toward compassion for depression since the campaign of Eagleton, fifty years ago. (Though at least Kean is running again). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/104 "2026-06-30T16:34:23Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Huh. It’s sad that (at least as perceived by some), society hasn’t moved much toward compassion for depression since the campaign of Eagleton, fifty years ago. > > (Though at least Kean is running again). I’m reserving my compassion for if and when he fully comes clean about his condition and how it will affect his ability to represent his constituents. Depression isn’t uncommon. Many are dealing with it. Not many have to be where “there are no cameras” for several months. I will also feel more compassion if he addresses in a meaningful (and legislative) way how almost no Americans have access to the type and duration of care he was able to get. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/105 "2026-06-30T16:39:39Z")
Who isn’t showing compassion? He’s only opened up an hour oe so ago? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/106 "2026-06-30T16:43:52Z")
Yeah, Fetterman was pretty open about his depression, right? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/107 "2026-06-30T16:46:40Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Who isn’t showing compassion? I think the point was that Kean may have felt unwilling to talk about why he was seeking medical treatment for months, because of general societal attitudes about depression. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/108 "2026-06-30T16:54:00Z")
Seems like a Kean problem, since at least one other elected representative, and lots of sports figures and celebrities, have been out about it. Or, he isn’t being 100% truthful… ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/109 "2026-06-30T16:54:39Z")
Yes, this. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/110 "2026-06-30T16:56:56Z")
The New York Times said > Mr. Kean, who said he was a “private person by nature,” as a way of explaining why he had not shared more earlier, said that “asking for help is not a weakness, it is a strength.” So more likely that his private nature was the reason for his secrecy. (Although private people are perhaps not typical office holders.) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/111 "2026-06-30T17:02:03Z")
Also, he didn’t ask for help, at least not in public. If he’s that private of a person, it’s weird, as you say, to be a public servant. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/112 "2026-06-30T17:21:15Z")
Weird, but admirable if true. We’d be better off if more politicians kept their private lives private. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/113 "2026-06-30T17:26:09Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > We’d be better off if more politicians kept their private lives private. I guess I agree. At least – not worse off. I have no problem with his time off. I do have a problem with him not having repudiated endorsement by Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/114 "2026-06-30T18:08:34Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Who isn’t showing compassion? > > I think the point was that Kean may have felt unwilling to talk about why he was seeking medical treatment for months, because of general societal attitudes about depression. Or it may be a more severe and/or complex problem than depression. I trust him and his word about as far as I can throw him. I don’t believe he has revealed all of the details. > [@Alessan](#): > > Weird, but admirable if true. We’d be better off if more politicians kept their private lives private. This isn’t about who he is sleeping with or if he is having a fight with his wife. This is about a possibly ongoing condition that kept him from doing the job he was elected to do for an extended amount of time. He’s running for reelection and asking to go back to the job with very few details. > [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > [@Alessan](#): > > > > We’d be better off if more politicians kept their private lives private. > > I guess I agree. At least – not worse off. > > I have no problem with his time off. I do have a problem with him not having repudiated endorsement by Donald Trump. Donald Trump is his entire platform. His father was a well respected moderate Republican who was willing to compromise across the aisle. His son is a MAGA parrot. Maybe that’s what caused his crisis. He feels like the only way to get elected is to be Trumpy but he knows it’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/115 "2026-06-30T18:12:43Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Huh. It’s sad that (at least as perceived by some), society hasn’t moved much toward compassion for depression since the campaign of Eagleton, fifty years ago. > > (Though at least Kean is running again). When the leader of Representative Tom Kean Jr’s political party and his followers show no compassion towards others, why would you expect society to do so? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/116 "2026-06-30T18:40:45Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > He feels like the only way to get elected is to be Trumpy but he knows it’s wrong. I don’t know, that’s ascribing a lot more substance to this guy than is there. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/117 "2026-06-30T19:22:39Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > We’d be better off if more politicians kept their private lives private. Hear! Hear! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/118 "2026-06-30T19:27:29Z")
It’s fine to claim “private life” but when something seriously affects one’s job performance, one’s employer is not out of line in needing an explanation. And in this case, the residents of New Jersey District 7 are his employers and their elected official was absent for almost four months. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/119 "2026-06-30T19:27:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Mr. Kean, who said he was a “private person by nature,” as a way of explaining why he had not shared more earlier, said that “asking for help is not a weakness, it is a strength.” “Which is why I’ll continue to vote to take access to that help away from the millions of people who need it the most.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589/120 "2026-06-30T19:41:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It’s fine to claim “private life” but when something seriously affects one’s job performance, one’s employer is not out of line in needing an explanation. And in this case, the residents of New Jersey District 7 are his employers and their elected official was absent for almost four months. Yeah, if a person with a disability needs a reasonable accommodation to do their job, then they should have it. But if, even with reasonable accommodations, their condition is such that they still can’t do the job, then they need to look for another line of work. Kean’s condition is clearly such as to prevent him from being able to do his job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-there-are-no-fun-speculations-about-why-tom-kean-jr-has-vanished/1030589.md?page=7)