Utah Gov. Spencer Cox made an impassioned plea to Americans to “choose a different path” rather than violence during a press conference Friday, where he confirmed law enforcement has apprehended a suspect in the fatal shooting of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
Cox, speaking directly to young Americans, said “you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option. But through those words we have a reminder that we can choose a different path. Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now.”
The Republican has made cross-aisle collaboration and depolarization a central theme of his governorship, partnering with Democratic governors to tackle issues of teenage social media use and housing.
“I’m deeply concerned about the polarization in our country and our inability, especially in Congress, to work together and solve problems,” Cox told POLITICO last year.
Young Americans were the heart of Kirk’s movement. The influencer and close Trump ally rose to prominence through Turning Point USA, an organization he co-founded to engage students and mobilize young conservatives. Kirk often traveled to universities nationwide to engage in political debate on college campuses and was fatally shot at an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah Wednesday.
Cox also highlighted the “gruesome” nature of Kirk’s killing being displayed and shared widely on social media, saying “it is not good for us to consume.”
“Social media is a cancer on our society right now,” Cox said. “And I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.”
Kirk’s death rocked a nation that has seen instances of political violence grow in recent years. But Cox used this moment to highlight an opportunity for Americans to choose a different path than violence.
"We can return violence with violence; we can return hate with hate. That's the problem with political violence. It metastasizes,” Cox said. “We can always point the figure at the other side. At some point we have to find an off ramp, or else it's going to get much worse."
In an Oval Office address following Kirk’s death, President Donald Trump both called for unity and placed blame on the “radical left,” citing the assassination attempt against him last year in Butler, Pennsylvania, among other incidents. He relayed a similar message to reporters Thursday, saying “we just have to beat the hell” out of “radical left lunatics,” before adding in a separate response that Kirk was “an advocate of nonviolence” and people should respond similarly.
When asked by a host on “Fox and Friends” earlier Friday about “radicals” on the right and left and “how do we fix this country, how do we come back together,” Trump again focused on far-left violence.
“I’ll tell you something that’s going to get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less: the radicals on the right oftentimes are radical because they don’t want to see crime,” he said. “The radicals on the left are the problem.” Trump later told the hosts Kirk would want conservatives to get “revenge at the ballot box.”
Cox took a different approach, instead calling for unity and asking all Americans, regardless of political beliefs, to “please follow what Charlie taught me.”
“There is one person responsible for what happened here and that person is now in custody and will be charged soon and will be held accountable,” Cox said.
Law enforcement apprehended the suspect, 22-year-old Utah resident Tyler Robinson, after a family member “reached out to a family friend who contacted the Washington County sheriff’s office with information that Robinson had confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident,” Cox said.
The governor said he prayed the suspect “wouldn’t be one of us,” hoping it would be someone from another state or country. He said he thought it would “make it easier” to be able to say, “We don’t do that here.”
But Cox pointed to reactions from Utahns following Kirk’s death as a source of hope. Instead of reacting with violence, Cox said, Utahns held vigils and came together “to share the humanity.”
“I still believe in our country, and I know Charlie Kirk believed in our country. I still believe that there is more good among us than evil,” Cox said. “And I still believe that we can change the course of history. I am hopeful because Americans can make it so.”
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