Hey, there're folks. It is Monday, March thirtieth, and Kenna brother get a vacation. No, if you're a high profile US senator and the government is still shut down, and of all places you want a vacation is Disney World. With that, Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. What in the actual hell is going on with Senator Lindsey Graham right now? Robes.
It's not a good look. It's first of all, it's not a good look. I'm just gonna say this, and maybe I'll get some hate for this, but a lot of people would just question in general, why a grown, single adult man would spend a weekend at Disney World. Now. I get it. Sometimes it's fun to ride the rides and to go to Epcot and all of that, but it is a little question.
Wait a minute, he's there with friends, is he not? Isn't he there with people? He's just not there on with a ticket on his own? I have that right, don't I.
I mean, he says he was meeting friends, but in all the photos I just see him by himself, writing rides and holding a bubble Wand Okay, there reportedly were other people with him, but still it's not a good look when the government shut down.
Okay, this, folks, maybe you've seen it, but Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has been spotted over the week Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Yes, pictures started emerging of him at Disney World in Orlando. The first one I saw was of him dining and Minnie was nearby.
Mickey was nearby. Yes, I think Mickey was nearby. So it's a kind of a funny photo.
It's okay, that was one, and there's another one that comes out.
Yeah, it seems like he's standing by himself holding a child's bubble wand in his hands.
Okay, yes, then there's another one. You tell me.
He's boarding Space Mountain. He stood in line, and of course the jokes were made. They were much shorter than the TSA lines to ride Space Mountain. Oh yes, Well, his constituents and other folks here around the country are waiting in four hours long lines and missing flights while he's waiting to ride Space Mountain. It's not a good line.
Okay, before we break all of that down, give me an idea. You went through more so than I do. Just give an idea of the heat he's taking and the things people are saying about these pics.
Don't we know how snarky social media is so Twitter or I guess X, sorry, still call it Twitter, but X is probably the most brutal there are. Just there is so much like just headed his way and it's low hanging fruit. It's easy obvious things to say about him, people questioning, calling him creepy, calling just a bad look, but just it runs the gamut. Are there are a lot of comments.
Okay, all those comments, and he's not the only one. We have seen this over the years in times of crisis. I think the first one that comes to mind, folks famously was during the ice storms and Texas. Ted Kruz was a video where he was going somewhere tropical actually was I can't.
Remember, Costa Rica or something, while Texas was being inundated and his constituents were losing their home.
An emergency, it was an absolute emergency down there. I remember that one comes to mind. Now we're talking about Lindsay Graham, but we want to mention and we'll explain the whole story. But another congressman, Democrat from California, A Robert Garcia was also spotted. Now I just saw the picture first rose before I saw his explanation, and I think it allows for some context.
Look, so representative Robert Garcia from Long Beach was seen at a Vegas casino over the weekend. Again, probably not a good look when people are are struggling to pay their rent payment, to put food on the table, living out of their cars, taking second and third jobs, getting eviction notices, he's gambling in Vegas. It just isn't a good look. However, so here's the deal. I did point this out. TMZ actually put out a car like a citizen journalist call if you see a member of Congress
out and about enjoying their spring break, we want the photos. So, of course that is now going to create a I don't even know, but a large number of folks who are going to be on the lookout for to catch members of Congress. And I say catch because that is what is being implied here, that they're doing something they shouldn't be, which is questionable. This is their recess. However, given the circumstances, they should probably be aware that people
are watching them. So it's interesting. So Robert Garcia gets caught. I say that with you understand air quotes in a Vegas casino, He says, Actually, I don't mind what TMZ is doing here. Like the story says, my dad has lived in Vegas for fifteen years and I had just finished lunch with him. I try to see him whenever I can. And like I said a few days ago, Speaker Mike Johnson, should never have sent us all home.
Okay, all right, I want to go back to something you just said, Robes about the TMZ putting out almost a bounty if you will, They have saying keep be on the lookout, and folks are almost hunting. Are congressmen and women at least in the sense of taking pictures? But Rose, you said caught as if they're doing something
they shouldn't be. I want to stop right there. If a member of Congress right now is enjoying himself, enjoying herself with family out public, are they doing something they should not be doing right now given the circumstances.
I think so, Yes, Damn, I do think so. I'm sorry, but I just do because your job is to keep the government running at its basist level and to pay government employees. And if you've had six weeks to figure it out, and you still couldn't for whatever reason. Point the finger at whoever you want. I don't care. You're a part of the problem if you weren't a part of the solution. And then to go out on this two week recess not having fulfilled your job and enjoy yourself,
spend your money with the paycheck that you didn't miss. Yeah, that is a rub That is like rubbing salt in the wound of a lot of folks who are having to quit positions to pay the bills because you won't to do a job because you aren't doing your job. But while you're not doing your job, you go ahead and ride Space Mountain, You go ahead and gamble on whatever you're doing blackjack. It. It just is a are you technical doing something wrong? No? But visually and like
from like an emotional level, are you doing something wrong? Yeah, you are.
You could almost even say ethically yes, I mean okay, I'm trying to find a way in defense of I really am. I'm trying to find a way to defend They have a right and they should be able to in this. But you get a break from work when you do your job right. They're taking a two week recess. You're right, It's just I don't know how to sit with this and be okay, I don't know, and I'm trying, trying, try and try and try and trying.
I'm also going to take issue with Robert Garcia because I just think.
That, oh, I didn't know if this was going to hit you. Go ahead, well it's.
Going to hit me that he's using it to point fingers at the other side and not take any responsibility and say, yeah, I'm here in Vegas cause because Mike Johnson sent me home.
Okay, do not not.
Take responsibility for your part in the game of Chicken or whatever it is you want to call it that you all did for the last six weeks. So to just completely and totally abdicate any responsibility and say, would me I would have stayed, but they sent me home, And so I'm just here in Vegas visiting my dad. No, you're not. You're in a casino gambling. After you visited your dad.
I didn't want to mention. I thought the direction you were going to go, and I didn't want to mention it because you were so hot when you were talking. I said, I'm not going to add too. I swear to you, I didn't add this because you might have gotten hotter. He's in a casino gambling with whose money they paid him?
Yeah, the American people, damn, so don't salary didn't knowledge it. Don't just point the finger at man. Go ahead and own up to your part too, And I would have actually given you a little bit of a break. But I don't like the fact that you didn't take any responsibility for it whatsoever. And frankly, neither did Lindsay Graham with his statement.
Okay, we have to go and we're going to read the Lindsay Graham statement here in a second, But we have to go back to this ropes. I don't know exactly what or did he say. He was there for a meeting. Initially even said Steve Whitcoff was down there for a luncheon. He was invited to this lunch and he ends up. Yes, he's he's literally and clearly hanging out at Disney World and enjoying himself as a patron, even riding rides robes does this the fact that he's at the happiest place on.
Earth without his family. There's even not on time. If you had kids who were dying to go when you had you had bought months in advance, and this recess happened, and you didn't want to disappoint your kids. I would say that was a valid reason being there, grandkids, kids, whatever, you you owed it to them because you would promised them months ago.
And we could say, okay, that is why I point that. We see why he's there. We can't understand. We can't understand why he knew he was going to be photographed. I was this important enough. It seems almost a middle
finger to the country. It almost some of this stuff Robes seems like not only did we not care enough to do our jobs, we don't even give a damn what you think about us, Like we think so little of you that I don't want to even respect your situation enough not to pour salt in the wound of your unemployment, of your lights being cut off, of you sleeping in the car. I don't even care. I have a child's wand in my hand hanging out at Disney
World getting photographed, and that's okay. Given what other people are going through, I cannot. I'm trying to give them space.
Robes where you said space all I can think of is space man, let me see that, like hands up having fun.
You said he was boreding, he was boring? You sure it's him?
Oh yeah, absolutely, show this picture. He's right there, standing in line. He's about to get on. Oh I can't tell that's him. Yes it is. There's another picture of him getting on a young kid.
So yeah, maybe he's family.
He guess maybe. And according to folks who were nearby who took the picture of him holding the little bubble wond it was for a little girl who was using the restroom, So maybe it's friends of the family. Whatever. I'm not saying there isn't a genuine reason for him to be there. But the point being is it's tone deaf as f af like you have to know that
on any other year, in any other time. Fine, go enjoy your family, your friends, whomever you choose to be with during this time, but also recognize that you have chosen to leave your job without doing it, and you have left people penniless and you are having the time
of your life at Disney World. That is a terrible look, people have said, even folks for the people who aren't getting paid, but the people who have missed flights, missed time with family, missed important business meetings, and you're off jumping on rides, throwing your hands up saying wooo ooh. That is a major pr problem. And I remember someone saying in line, I'm going to remember in November.
Oh yeah, there, right.
Do these folks, yeah, Like that's like a slogan I'm gonna remember in November. It has a ring to it. And are these congressmen and women? Did they get it?
I don't know.
I feel like this is something that the American voters won't forget.
Here is the thing that I think Garcia and Lindsay Graham and every other member of Congress who's having a good time somewhere right now can say that'll help them sleep better at night. It's not my fault I'm here. It's the other side's fault that we're in this position. I tried to do all I could to keep the government open. This is not my fault. So why should not be able to enjoy myself be.
Respectful of the folks who can't, who can't afford to because of your indecision and your inability to compromise.
Now, actually that is that shuts it down. You make it good point. Even if you can make that argument, you're still not being decent to your fellow American that it is absolutely, at least partially your fault that they are struggling, not just folks struggling without the job. We talked about the TSA workers, and we forget about FEMA, we forget about the Coast Guard, all these other folks. But Rose, the other part of that, you are devastating.
How many stories have you read about people missing flights, important flights, going through hell day in day out, in already hard lives because there's a five hour line at the airport.
And when they miss a flight, they can't necessarily afford to book a hotel room or extend wherever they are. This is actually incurring costs for folks to who have missed. I don't know what the airlines are doing if you get stuck in a TSA line, if you have to encourfe or you have any issues. But for folks who sometimes like I even had it with like, look, you get rebooked the next day, the day after, what are you doing in the meantime? This is serious and de dating.
So yeah, that's where we are in the world, and so to see members of Congress who didn't act, who couldn't get there, you know what, together, and couldn't put aside politics to come together to help the American worker, the American federal worker. It's lay low, dudes and women, lay low right now. I actually think they should lay low.
Okay, Well, that was gonna be my question going into the break. I will ask what are they supposed to do? Sit under a rock, stay at home. I'll get a ROBO's answer to that question. And we told you we let you hear Lindsay Graham's statement. Well it wasn't much, but we'll let you know how he explained what he's doing at the Happiest place owner. All right, we continue here on Amy and TJ. We were just having to
discussion do they make a distinction? Are both Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland in la still both referred to as the happiest place on Earth? Does it matter which one?
I don't think it matters if Disney's involved, It's supposed to be the happiest place on Earth. So yes, I mean Disney Paris, Tokyo. Yes, yeah, I caught that too late, probably for the best.
Lindsay Graham. What did he say?
He said, I was invited to a lunch in South Florida on Friday where Trump official Steve Woodcoffe and many others to discuss or to talk about the possibility of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. I went to Orlando to meet friends after I got back to South Carolina on Sunday, I voted seven times to fully fund the government. Call the Democrat. So you've got the Democrat pointing fingers at the Republicans, and you've got a Republican pointing the
fingers at Democrat. Wow, it doesn't matter where they are in the world, and even if they're at the happiest place on Earth, they're still partisan af and still pointing the finger at the other guy, which just infuriates those of us who have to watch our elected members of Congress just completely takes zero responsibility. And that is what is so infuriating. And look, we're not even people who have been financially impacted, Like, can you imagine if you
haven't been paid for six weeks? Can you imagine if you're the person who missed a flight trying to get to your grandmother's funeral, whatever the situation, so many people have so many more reasons to be personally offended and upset by what they're seeing and the fact that they actually feel so insulated that they feel so secure. I cannot imagine showing my face at one of those places
after not doing my job. And yeah, you can blame whoever you want, but you are still a part of the problem, and to not take responsibility is the biggest problem of it all.
To your point about right, or to our point earlier in the conversation, you asked a Democrat and they asked a Republican. Why are you in a casino? Why are you a Disney World call a democrat? Is their fault? The other side, I'd love to be here, But ask the Republican speaker. They're both can justify why they are where they are, and they're saying it's somebody else's fault that put them there.
Okay, But to not understand it collectively, you're still a part of a law making body, ropes that chose not to act, and chose not to find common ground, and chose to play politics at a time where people's livelihoods are at stake.
You sound hopeful, I was gonna say idealistic, But no, that sounds that's the way things should go. You're right, I was saying, all she's You're right. That's not a high bar that you just set. That shouldn't be. That should be the basis, the basis. But ropes, what are they supposed to do? Should they all be sitting at home? Should they all not be showing their face other than
town halls? Is it inappropriate right now for any of the five hundred and thirty plus members of Congress to be out and about enjoying themselves these two weeks?
Yes, it is, And I don't think they should be anywhere. But DC, what do you think?
Damn? Now that's a good call. Shouldn't have left in the first place. Now that is the point there, you go. Shouldn't have left in the first place. So that is probably where I land with you. I just I know what I would as a PR person or as the the PR campaign person for I would recommend, No, you are not going to be going out in public. You're not even gonna go out to dinner. I don't want you to be seen enjoying yourself in any way that even looks like you're spending money.
I actually would appreciate you doing something to help those workers. I'd like to see you at an airport handing out visit check cards, or providing lunch, or doing something to at least knowledge your role in these folks not getting paid and having had to suffer. But to do something to give back because you acknowledged that the place where you work. And fine, you can try to say one me wasn't my fault. I voted in favor of the funding,
and sure there I get that. That is a valid explanation if you voted to fund each and every time, I'll give you that. But you're still a part of an entity that failed to act and so by default, sorry, you're a part of the problem. So do something to make other people's lives better that you've impacted in a negative way. Spend this time giving back in the spirit of Easter, in the spirit of Jesus Christ, do unto others.
Amen.
I'm fired I don't know why I'm so fired up, but I am fired up to it's maddening to see that.
We're gonna have fun later when I'm gonna explain to y'all what our backup topics were for this episode of the podcast. We actually chose this one because we were a good mood and thought it would be lighter. You know. Lindsey Graham at Disney World, what a wand that's funny, And all of a sudden, it's hot in here, so one of the two of us probably needs to go take a walk. And that's all right. Good to see you, good to see your fire. Baby. It's gonna be a rough two weeks, ain't it.
Yes, And I I really do hope that Lindsay Graham and Robert Garcia. I hope the other fellow lawmakers see what's happening. You know what, we have been kind of fans a TMC. Gonna be honest here, which is unusual for us. We're not what. We don't love some of the tactics of certain news outlets or media entities. But I have to say I don't hate that they have asked people to go find congressmenaline and enjoying themselves. These two.
I don't think they asked anybody to hunt us. People just started sending them.
Stuffs right, right, But no, And I we like Harvey he almost always gets it right. But I actually I'm gonna say I want to say I am in support of Harvey Levin's mandate to find commerceman of women like living it up during these two weeks. Okay, while the government is shut down.
Let me publicly split with my fiance right now. I am not in favor of any outlet putting a bounty of any kind on anybody under any circumstance.
As long as they're in the public eye doing something on a public street, they're a fair game.
You can do about that, all right, folks. Well, at least we're smiling at the end of this thing. We always appreciate you spending some time with us. For my dear hot heeded, fired up, dear fiance, Amy Robot, I am TJ. Holmes. We'll talk, fols.