Navy veteran Tom Weiler running for GOP Senate nomination: Full interview

(FOX 9) - 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 All Day for an interview. Last week, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Tom Weiler spoke with FOX 9’s Rob Olson. Here is the full interview.

Weiler, a Navy veteran, is continuing his primary campaign despite not winning the GOP nomination earlier this year. In 2022, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as the Republican-endorsed candidate against Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips in Minnesota’s Third Congressional District. 

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Weiler on his background and Navy career 

"I'm from Eden Prairie, right in this neck of the woods. I grew up in Minnesota, thought I had an idyllic childhood, blessed to have family out in Western Minnesota so I grew up in the farm environment, a cabin up north. I went off to the University of Notre Dame on a Navy ROTC scholarship. I got commissioned in the Navy and went to nuclear power school. And then I drove and operated submarines around the world under the oceans. I had the opportunity to operate really against all of our strategic enemies, directly operating against Russian, Chinese, North Korean [and] Iranian forces and along with forces across the world. 

And all things equal, I'd still be in the submarine force, hopefully leading the submarine force at this point, but I got that curveball with the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. I tried to get a medical waiver. I ended up on a deployment to the Middle East on an aircraft carrier in 2020, but once it became clear that the submarine force just had zero threshold for any neurological question, I went ahead and retired. I ran in 2022 against Congressman Dean Phillips. I did get second place, but some people applaud the fact that I scared him out of Minnesota politics, and he decided to run for president. 

I still have that burning desire to serve our great country. I know I can still contribute. And I do feel like I have a unique set of experiences and problem-solving background where I can effectively serve Minnesotans as their United States senator and fundamentally solve problems for Minnesotans to improve their way of life."
Weiler on managing Parkinson’s disease in office 

"I'm going to have a physical competition with President Biden and President Trump. And I am very confident that cognitively and physically, I'm just fine to serve as the United States senator."

Weiler on the importance of national security

"My platform centers around my discussions with Minnesotans across this great state as I've been campaigning for the last couple of months. National security is a critical element on that because that preserves the way of life for all Americans and indirectly affects our affordability and our standard of living here in Minnesota. Fundamentally, I believe with my 25 years of experience in national security we don't want it to be a fair fight with our military against anyone else's, which is a different concept for most people. Fairness is a good thing in almost every aspect of the world. In our military, we want a strong enough force that effectively deters any adversary from even thinking about doing something that sort of counters our interest, domestically and internationally. I believe in a strong deterrent military force that hopefully deters military conflict and when necessary, efficiently and quickly defeats any enemy."

Weiler on how he would address combatting fraud

"Two things: leadership and shrinking the size of the federal, local and state governments. When you have billions and billions of dollars of waste, and probably one of the most concerning aspects is no one even knew about this waste This waste has been happening for years. These billions of dollars have been stolen from Minnesota taxpayers and American taxpayers across this country in multiple states, like you said. It's not uniquely Minnesota, but I think Minnesotans' unique lack of leadership and Gov. Walz and [Lt. Gov.] Peggy Flanagan's specific lack of accountability on this issue makes us, unfortunately, the highlight reel for fraud across this country at the moment." 

It's absolutely accountability. If the state of Minnesota can't account for the money coming into their coffers and the money going out of their coffer, especially with the federal money that the U.S. Senate helps to control, then no [federal funding]. It doesn't matter if it's Minnesota or any other state. If you don't demonstrate an understanding of where the money's coming in from and where it's going, then your funding's going to have to get sort of controlled or reduced from the federal sector. 

Again, we don’t need a federal or state government spending multiple millions of dollars on feeding kids lunch whose parents can afford to pay for their lunch—we need to make sure our government focuses on uniquely government things instead of trying to be a social hammock for every problem that a Minnesotan or an American might face." 

Weiler on advocating for armed security officers in schools

"Well, tragically, I think we all agree it's needed. We all live in Minnesota, and we saw the tragedy of Annunciation last year. And that string of school tragedies continues. Why is it needed? We just talked about [it]. Why would an armed security be effective? That's how you secure things. That's how you secure a military base, an airport, a stadium, a border. So, good guys with a gun is how you secure something. 

And as far as parents' concern on walking into that environment, I mean, that's the same environment, you walk into an airport. And really, armed security at a school should not be necessarily even transparent to the kids walking into school. This is not a meet-and-greet by cops. This is a dedicated armed watch stander who's making sure that there is no threat, current or evolving threat on those kids at that school." 

Weiler on deterring school shooters with armed guards

"It's one, a deterrent element, just like the military. Multiple school shooters in the past have referred to identifying soft targets. One, there's a deterrence element, which I think would make school shootings across this country less common. 

And two, no solution is perfect, obviously. But an armed security watch stander will, one, deter and hopefully limit the damage any school shooter, any attack on a school, the perpetrator would have on causing harm."

Weiler on his experience across key Senate focus areas

"I do have experience in the vast majority of the things that the Senate gets paid to work on, i.e., our national security, the energy sector, interstate infrastructure, critical infrastructure that's critical to Americans' way of life. This is not 'vote for me for senator because I was in the military for 20 years.' This is 'vote for a Senator because with my experience, I think I can be the most effective senator to represent and champion Minnesotans' concerns in Washington, D.C., and also effectively find solutions.' 

And that goes against Republicans and Democrats. To me, every other candidate in this race is going to be a cookie-cutter Democrat or Republican. They're going to go to Washington, D.C., vote in accordance with the party, and we're going to have more of the same. I'm going there as a change agent because I have the knowledge to have my own ideas, my own understanding of how Washington works to actually bring pragmatic, real solutions that will positively impact Minnesotans' lives. I've told people before: I have just enough D.C. experience to be dangerous to the status quo and actually present real solutions to real problems."  

Weiler’s closing pitch to Minnesota voters

"Because I want to solve problems on behalf of all Minnesotans to improve your way of life. I want to bring a change of course to Minnesota. I think all Minnesotans in their heart of hearts know that Minnesota is not on the best course right now, and I think we need someone who can solve problems, listen to Minnesotans, feel for Minnesotans, and chart a new course for Minnesotans. I believe I have that leadership to help direct Minnesota in a better direction. I look forward to the opportunity to serve as your senator. Look forward to the opportunity to hopefully have another debate with any and all candidates for the United States Senate. I know Michelle [Tafoya] is scared to debate, but I think a discussion of issues would serve all Minnesotans well."  

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