GOP-endorsed Adam Schwarze makes his pitch to voters in Minnesota Senate race: Full interview

(FOX 9) - Primary elections in Minnesota are just days away as candidates work to win over voters. 

FOX 9 has extended an invitation to all the candidates polling above 5% in both the Minnesota Governor and Senate primary races to appear on our All Day program for an interview. On Wednesday, GOP-endorsed Republican Adam Schwarze is running for one of Minnesota's seats in the U.S. Senate. 

Here is his full interview: 

Schwarze on his background in the Marines: 

"Yeah, I joined on my 18th birthday, raised my hands for an oath to defend our constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and I've made good on that oath to this day. I did 10 years as an infantryman, coupled in all five phases of Operation Iraqi Freedom through some combat deployments, did some time serving at US embassies around the world, doing diplomatic things, and did both those things well enough to get accepted to a meritorious commission to become an officer. Came back home to University of Minnesota and then commissioned in 2012 and achieved my lifelong dream, became a United States Navy SEAL and did my last 11 years in the SEAL teams. So in total, nine deployments, 75 countries. I think I have more time downrange than anybody else serving in Congress or Senate. So I've got some good real-world experience and acumen. And then at the end of my military career, finished up with my undergrad here at the U, as I said, got a couple of advanced degrees. I have my master's in international relations from Harvard, also have a master's certificate in nuclear deterrence. And a master's certificate in international security, also from Harvard. Had my MBA from Johns Hopkins, and I'm finishing up a master's in public policy as well from John Hopkins. So, kind of a boots on ground guy in the theater of war, all phases of operational experiences, working with federal government from all the three other agencies and then turned into a nerd at the end of my career."

What have you done since you got out of the military? What is your current occupation? 

"Well, I'm running for U.S. Senate, and I've taken, in about 18 days [months] of campaigning, six days off. So six days off in 18 months. It's been a long road to get to this point. I'm really blessed that having been on the road more than anybody else running for statewide offices cycle on either side of the aisle, I've had the opportunity to learn a lot like I'm at Farm Fest right now. For the last month. I've just been traveling all around Minnesota visiting with people's farms. In combat, you don't learn unless you're at the point of friction. And so being with Minnesota farmers, being... With the Minnesota constituents who I want to fight for and serve in Washington has been great. In between from when I retired in 2023 until I started the campaign officially, I was the face of conservatives for a stronger America. It was just an issue advocacy to talk about things like the importance of having strong borders, putting American citizens first. How if we didn't combat the Iranian proxies that under Biden, how we would have to face them in a much more frontal way like we ended up having to do during the Trump administration."

You say that public schools are failing. In what way are they failing? In what do they fix them? Do you support more money for public schools, or are you supporting shifting, through vouchers potentially, money to private schools? 

"Yeah, that's mostly a state issue. I'm running for U.S. Senate. So obviously, you know, I've listed off all my education credentials. I love education, but the Federal Department of Education is plainly just a bad investment of your tax dollars, of American citizens' tax dollars. I think that all of your taxes dollars, the further it leaves from your house, the worst investment off. So for me, you know, Reagan said the best tax dollars [are] the ones that never leaves your bank account. That's how I think the federal government should be run. Just smaller government wholistically and then you have less taxes. You know, Minnesotans know this acutely. The majority of your Minnesota tax dollars are frauded. We had $24 billion, I think, in spending that was all frauded where we had an $18 billion surplus. We're now on track for a multi-billion dollar deficit. That was because of too much taxes and that was state taxes. When you think about now from the federal level, it's even orders of magnitude. So like I'll be running against likely Peggy Flanagan in the general election. She's an open socialist, so where I think power should be at the American people, power should be at the individual family level. We should have less government, more control at your family level. She thinks that the government should just have more taxes, more controls, less family, less faith. Part of the communist objective, part of the socialist objective is take out faith out of the churches and put it in the government. So there's really some large contrast between myself and my Republican challengers like Michele Tafoya, who openly wants to march on Washington for abortions and wants to support red flag gun laws. I identify as a constitutional conservative. Part of the foundational rights as being a constitutional conservative is supporting Second Amendment rights. So some big contrast between myself and my other primary opponents and then, certainly likely, Peggy Flanagan, who's just the other end of the scale for how we think government should support the American citizen.

Schwarze on helping small businesses: 

"Yeah, well, I mean, you just have something really important, sir, is the family farms. If somebody's traveled all around greater Minnesota, my main ag policy is to make sure that we find a way to make these family farms or third generation family farms can make them into a fourth generation family farm. And that doesn't happen if we give our lands to China, we sell our lands to China. If we put a solar farm on top of their good farming land, or if we don't support American farming. And as an American first guy who wants to focus money only on things that are national security issues. Well, farming is a national security issue because food security is a national security issue. When it comes to regulation, you said it best that the regulation is killing families. That's both state federal state and federal regulation. I'm just to get the government out of the way kind of guy. I think that Minnesotans, well, they want to do the right thing. They want to be left alone. They want have the opportunity for success and succeed. And government red tape is getting in that way. And that's what I oppose. I oppose the government getting in the way of people's opportunity to have success."

What type of regulations might you be referring to or targeting that you say are over-restricting?

"Yeah, so thanks for allowing me to expand on that. So I'm a military guy, obviously, I've got more time downrange than anybody serving in Congress. So, I'll be a good fit for the Senate Armed Forces Committee, which is a multi-trillion dollar budget. I'll be a great fit for the Senate Intelligence Committee because of my time as a mission commander on intelligence operations. But the most excited committee that I'm excited to work on in the US Senate is energy. I wanna promote nuclear energy. We have a nuclear moratorium, it's impossible to get nuclear things off the ground. And I actually, I don't like wars as well. I wanna make that very clear. I'm a no wars guy. Well, the majority of large scale wars are fought over energy. And so I can do two of my passions, stopping wars from happening and promote nuclear energy and promote American business interests. And that's what I am. I'm a Jeffersonian doctrine guy. I wanna decouple foreign entanglements, but I wanna increase our foreign assets and foreign relationships built off commerce. And so I want to make Minnesota the worldwide capital of the world for nuclear energy. Well, that's a great thing when you're talking about all the different forms of energy that both Democrats and Republicans want to put on the grid. The only thing that gets us there is nuclear power in the in the scale needed for America's future."

Schwarze on trade, manufacturing and tariffs: 

"Yes, some of the tariffs have been working, some have not worked as quickly as others. But the so what from Trump's tariffs policy is to move the status quo in the lane of America first. And that's kind of been Trump's lane throughout his entire time as president, is taking the status quote and make it more America first. So how we redid the NAFTA agreement with our North and Southern trading partners to the USMC, to all these different trade tariffs. The intent of them. Is to make it an even playing field. The majority of them have been what's called reciprocal tariffs, which is making it even playing field for American interests, American business interests abroad. And that's what I'm for. I'm any tariff that promotes American business interest abroad and makes it a level playing field. And I think that's another thing that Trump does that I'm 100% on board with is making that Minnesota manufacturing, making American manufacturing work for Americans. No longer being reliant on all these foreign entities because COVID taught us that. COVID taught us that we can't. Sell out American goods for Chinese cheaper goods for foreign labor when we can't be relied on. And that's also a national security issue, by the way."

Schwarze on not being allowed at Farm Fest Senate forum, allegedly saying it was canceled: 

"Well, that war were [sic] semantics on the word canceled because this was canceled as the only Republican forum. This was the only forum that the DC candidate Michelle Tafoy[a] had agreed to debate at. And this decision for her not to debate or for them to exclude me after we had already had an invitation to debate was not made in Minnesota. It was made in DC to provide cover because she has never debated once. And so there's two kinds of things that are newsworthy, actually. Is in the history of Farm Fest never has Farm Fest excluded a major party endorsed candidate from the debate stage on either side of the aisle. That happened because of a decision in DC and Michelle Tafoya because she doesn't have the qualifications or the values of the Republican Party the DC establishment her head campaign headquarters in DC has also done everything they can to make sure that her own policy positions as well as mine cannot be had in the public square. Because Republicans know that we support life and support the second amendment, we support Americans over amnesty for illegals and she supports all those wrong side of the aisle issues so it's sad that the primary voters are being disenfranchised through this action today."

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