Last week, Nashville’s Fox 17 WZTV interviewed Congressman John Rose about his race for governor. A portion of the interview aired, but it was much too long for a full airing in the limited time available during evening newscasts.
Excerpts from the transcript of the longer version of their interview with Rose last week reveal a lot of great content. The most interesting excerpts included:
FOX 17: “What do you think some of your biggest accomplishments have been in office thus far?
ROSE: “I wouldn’t point to my service in office for my biggest accomplishments. Probably being the dad of two great little boys who are the ninth generation, hopefully take on that legacy. Those are my most important accomplishments.”
“But you know as the Legislator representing the people of the sixth district of Tennessee, I think just providing Tennessee values in Washington. You know, I tell everyone my job is to take Tennessee values to Washington and get Washington out of Tennessee. And so yeah, I’m a conservative and outside conservative, bringing my business perspective to Congress. I’m not a professional politician.”
“In terms of legislation, one of the things that I’m most proud of is we just recently passed the Home Buyers Privacy Protection Act. In fact, the President’s going to sign it here just in the end of the day now, which protects new home buyers from getting inundated with spam mail and other solicitations when they’re trying to make maybe the most important financial move of their lives.
And so this is going to keep you from getting all those calls that you don’t want when you’re maybe under the most stress that you’ve been under in your life, perhaps.”
“We’ve also worked hard to protect and help farmers, the one big, beautiful bill that we recently passed provides much needed protection for our nation’s farmers. Part of the farm bill is contained in that Act. And of course, maybe the biggest accomplishment is just helping the president implement his agenda for restoring America.”
FOX 17: So what motivated you to eventually put your name in the running for governor of Tennessee?
ROSE: “I ran for Congress because I worried about the country that we’re going to pass on to the next generation of Americans. Similarly, I didn’t go to Congress with the plan of staying there forever. And so I was planning to come home at this point.”
“I’m worried about the future of Tennessee, we’re in a good place relative to the country, we have low taxes and low debt, reasonable regulations on our businesses and people and a hospital social environment, but we’re growing quickly. And if we’re not careful, if we don’t manage that growth well and look for opportunities to preserve the best of Tennessee, we’re going to wake up in a few years and Tennessee is not going to feel very much like Tennessee anymore.”
“I think we need someone with executive experience, the kind of experience that I gained from starting a small business right here in Nashville and seeing it through to success. That’s the job of being governor. It’s a very different than the job I have as a legislator. And so we need to hire someone to be our next governor who has that experience.”
“They don’t need to be trying to get that experience on the job. I think it will be the hardest job I’ve ever had if Tennessee hires me for it, but I’m ready to roll up my sleeves. I’m not looking to come home to retire. I’m not looking for another trophy on my mantle. I’m looking for a chance to work hard to make sure that Tennessee is successful going forward.”
FOX17: What is your take on Senator Marsha Blackburn announcing that she’s running for Governor versus your campaign for the job?
ROSE: “I think the difference between us is the experience that I bring. First of all, I’m a conservative, a fiscal and social conservative. I have a conservative voting record that’s among the most conservative of any member of Congress and certainly any member of the Tennessee delegation. So I bring a more conservative viewpoint to the job than she would”
“But secondly, I bring the right set of experiences. I’ve learned a lot being a legislator the last six and a half years, but it isn’t those experiences that I think qualifies me to apply for the job of Governor of Tennessee. So I have started and run businesses and taking them, taking them from the idea phase all the way through to the success phase; creating scores of jobs for Tennesseans.
I’ve signed the front side of a paycheck. So I know what it’s like to be responsible for leading and guiding an organization. And that’s the job of governor of Tennessee.”
The job of being a legislator doesn’t require you to be responsible for actually making things happen. You vote yes or no on bills, you guide legislation. But at the end of the day, all of that gets handed over to an executive like the president or the governor or the county mayor to implement those things. I have that experience. And so I’m ready to go to work on day one.”
FOX 17: How important is President Trumps’s endorsement in this race?
ROSE: “I have been an unapologetic supporter of President Trump. I believe his vision for restoring the greatness of America is the right vision. That was part of what motivated me to run for Congress back in 2018. And so I think Tennesseans can look at my record and see what they’re going to get and see that I’ll be true to those values, conservative Tennessee values that I think the people of our state are looking for with the right set of experiences to deliver and do the job for them.
FOX 17: Are you hoping to get President Trump’s endorsement?
ROSE: “Well, he’s endorsed me in all of the races that I’ve run thus far and I’ve endorsed him both times. He’s run for public office. So yes, I hope that the president might choose to support me. But I also know that the President needs Congress to be on his side, both the House and the Senate. And so he’ll have to make that decision about whether this is an appropriate place for him to weigh in.”
Steve Gill is Publisher of TriStar Daily and is a regular conservative political analyst and contributor for WZTV Fox 17 in Nashville.
