Utah Government Spencer Cox I consistently sought courtesy in a polarized country that felt more and more unusual. And political violence came to his own backyard.
A few hours after a conservative influencer Charlie Kirk Shot at Utah Valley University, partisan reflexes kicked into gear, and Republicans stood in front of cameras and prayed for another path as the United States approached its 250th birthday.
“We just need everyone in this country to think about where we are and where we want to be,” Cox said. His voice is a mixture of emotion and anger. “To ask us, “Is this it? Is this 250 years made for us?”
“I hope that’s not the case.”
Cox’s determined plea touched the nerves of Americans tired of the rising political violence and fearing what would come. This is a familiar role for Cox, who attracted public attention for his deep personal reaction to the shooting at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub in 2016, and has since supported a rooted vision of politics. Unity and respect.
As he said Wednesday, the vision is “we’re all trying to find a way to stop hating fellow Americans.”
He was far from the only political leader who sought unity, but his comments stood out in a sea of harsh responses overflowing with social media.
President Donald Trump denounced his political adversary, portraying rhetoric from the “radical left” driving Kirk’s murderer, but his perpetrator and motives are unknown, and political violence is merely affecting the right.
Cox’s introspection call for Rage evoked the powerful speech he gave when he was Utah’s lieutenant governor nearly a decade before he was Utah’s lieutenant governor, shooting at a Pulse Nightclub, which killed 49 people in a gay bar.
Talking primarily to audiences in the LGBTQ community, Cox confessed that as a small, rural high school student, he was sometimes unfriendly to “the kids in my class are different kids.”
“I will forever regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity, respect, love they deserve,” he said. He said his mind changed as he got to know members of the gay community.
Later, as governor, he opposed grain among Republicans; rejection A 2022 bill that bans trans athletes from playing on women’s teams. He said the law affected four of four of Utah’s 85,000 student-athletes at the time, focusing on the suicide statistics of transgender youth.
“There is rarely a lot of fear and anger directed at too few,” he wrote in a letter explaining his veto. “I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do it. But I want to live with them.”
Cox and his democratic opponents in the 2020 campaign for the governor Appeared together This is a very unorthodox move as the TV ads pledge to “not agree without hating each other.”
And as chairman of the National Association of Governors, he promoted courtesy through an initiative called Consent. He appeared nationwide alongside Democratic governors and other public figures to emphasize the value of unity.
Cox’s office did not respond to the interview request.
Cox has developed a complex relationship with Trump and his “make America great again” movement. He is one of the few Republicans who remain in high positions because of their intense criticism of the president.
Cox said he would not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, and not vote for him last summer or 2024. He said Trump’s role in instigating January 6, 2021 was the overreach of the U.S. Capitol riots.
However, a few days later, after attempting to assassinate Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, Cox changed his mind. He wrote to Trump, explaining that at the moment of the shooting his rebellious response spurred a sudden reevaluation and a Cox switch.
Cox, a member of the Latter-day Saint Church of Jesus Christ, said he believes God has his hand in not spare Trump’s life, and believes that Trump is in a unique position to save the country “by emphasizing unity rather than hatred.”
In a six-minute speech on Wednesday, Cox unfairly spoke about Kirk’s “political assassination.” Kirk puts it in the context of other recent political violence targeting Democrat governor of Pennsylvania and Democrat Trump.
“Our country is broken,” he said.
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