Amid the outpouring of anger and grief after Charlie Kirk was fatally shot, many Americans have been calling for change, for a ceasefire in the partisan animosity that seemed to reach its zenith when a gunman crouched atop a building at Utah Valley University and focused his rifle scope on a young father in a white T-shirt.
But how will that change occur?
No speaker — no leader — has received more attention during the past five days than Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who was thrust into the national spotlight for the worst of reasons, but has won widespread acclaim for both his demeanor and his message.
Cox, a Republican in his second term, was ready for this close-up, as evidenced by his numerous public and media appearances this week, and the response to them. Both Republicans and Democrats have praised his remarks, delivered under pressure and with very little sleep. (The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins reported that at one point, Cox had not slept for 48 hours.)
But it would be a mistake to say that Cox simply rose to the occasion. He has been operating on this elevated plane for years with actions on two key fronts: pushing civility in the public square and launching an attack on social media companies. Sunday, he said social media “has played a direct role in every single assassination and assassination attempt that we have seen over the past five, six years.”
His “Disagree Better” initiative and Utah’s passage of social media laws, including one that holds media companies responsible for mental health problems of minors if curated algorithms are used, have led the way nationally and perhaps make Cox and Utah uniquely suited to help the country not just get past this tragic moment, but build from it something better.
Why Spencer Cox doesn’t watch cable news
In an essay for Deseret Magazine last year, Cox cited troubling figures about political violence: “Between 2016-2021, political violence toward members of Congress increased tenfold (1,000%) and nearly doubled for the judiciary.”
He wrote about an “exhausted majority” of Americans who are not politically moderate but still believe that it’s possible to find common ground. He also offered solutions: improving how we talk about politics and each other, and muting destructive voices.
“My wife Abby and I are 11 years sober from cable news, a decision that improved our lives immeasurably,” he wrote.
Cox brought his theme of “Disagree Better” to a national platform when he was chairman of the National Governors Association in a term that ended last year. His campaign ad with a Democratic opponent in 2020 was revolutionary and engaging.
He has meaningful relationships with Democrats, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, with whom he recently appeared at the National Press Club. Prior to that, they were together in Washington’s National Cathedral, with bipartisan voices calling for change in an event called “With Malice Toward None, With Charity for All,” hosted and organized by the Washington National Cathedral, the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University, the Wesley Theological Seminary and Deseret Magazine.
Utahns know he has preached “disagree better” for years, but in this moment of national tragedy, the message is resonating at news conferences and, on Sunday, in nationally televised news shows such as ”Meet the Press.” (The Washington Post considered Cox’s remarks at Friday’s news conference important enough to post in their entirety on YouTube.)
While some commentators have been critical of Cox’s tone, saying he wanted a “kumbaya” moment, that’s an incomplete, and therefore inaccurate, assessment. Cox owned the lectern this week because his message was both one of anger and charity — a rare combination.
Prior to the identification and arrest of the suspect, Tyler Robinson, he said the state would pursue the death penalty. He admitted how angry he was and said he found a way back from the brink by heeding Kirk’s words, among them: “When things are moving very fast, and people are losing their minds, it’s important to stay grounded. Turn off your phone, read scripture, spend time with friends and remember internet fury is not real life. It’s going to be OK.”
Cox sounded a similar theme this week when he said, “Social media is a cancer on our society right now. And I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.”
The governor has been saying much the same thing throughout his political career, even as he has ramped up his criticism of social media.
What did Cox say on ‘Meet the Press’?
In his appearance on “Meet the Press” Sunday, host Kristen Welker questioned Cox about his analogy to cancer, but the governor doubled down without hesitation.
“I believe that social media has played a direct role in every single assassination and assassination attempt that we have seen over the past five, six years. There’s no question in my mind. Cancer probably isn’t a strong enough word,” Cox said.
He said, “The most powerful companies in the history of the world have figured out how to hack our brains, get us addicted to outrage — which is the same type of dopamine, the same chemical that you get from taking fentanyl — and to get us to hate each other.”
“Conflict engineers,” Cox said, are taking advantage of Americans. “We have to get back to community, caring about our neighbors, the things that make America great, serving each other, bettering ourselves, exercising, sleeping, all those things that (social media) takes from us.”
A father of four whose folksy style derives more from his background as a farmer than as a lawyer, he met his wife when he was 16. He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico before getting married and embarking on a career that would ultimately take him through the political ranks: city council, mayor, county commissioner, state legislator and lieutenant governor, before he became governor in January of 2021.
Cox noted how his experience, particularly his faith, inform his approach, saying Sunday: “In my conservative philosophy, and, quite frankly, in my faith philosophy, we believe in agency. We believe that we are each individually responsible for ourselves. And the United States of America is a collection of a lot of different people. And again, no president is going to lead us out of this. It’s going to be every single one of us.”
His comments came in reaction to others praising him for his leadership, and comparison with Donald Trump’s approach. Cox was quick to point out the support Trump has given him, and the president’s justified anger over the radicalization of those who would do harm.
But, he demurred, this moment is not about coalescing around a single leader, it’s about each American taking responsibility for how they are engaging with others — both friend and foe.
Cox in the national media
It was a difficult week for Utah in many ways, but not in the respect that was afforded Cox.
The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal praised him, saying he had offered “important wisdom” in his remarks about social media and its antidote.
“Don’t underestimate the political salience of this message to voters who all know someone whose mental stability has deteriorated after hours spent marinating in online rage,” the op-ed said.
In the U.K.’s Spectator, Charles Gibson, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Chicago, wrote: “Governor Spencer Cox of Utah rose above the crowd when he spoke of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the apprehension of his suspected killer. It was the second time in as many days that Cox voiced thoughts we all needed to hear. Instead of rage, the governor’s plainspoken, heartfelt language, together with his quotes from Charlie, underscored our country’s highest and best values. They were sober, profound thoughts, and we needed to hear them.”
While a certain type of politician might be meeting right now with national strategists trying to figure out how to parlay this attention into a book contract, a TV show or a presidency, on Sunday, Cox took the opposite route, saying repeatedly that it is not a single person who can lead America out of this morass, but the collective actions of more than 300 million of us.
“People keep waiting for somebody to lead us out of this … and I think that’s a mistake, I don’t think any one person – certainly not a governor, I don’t think a president — I don’t think any one person can change the trajectory of this. It truly is about every single one of us," he said on “Meet the Press.”
And some of the conversation on the Sunday talk shows tried to drive a wedge between Cox and Trump. CNN’s “State of the Union” entitled a panel discussion “Trump, Cox, offer competing visions for the country’s soul.”
But on ABC’s “This Week,” Cox offered a more nuanced explanation of the differences between his response to the shooting, and the president’s, and said that the White House had encouraged him to go on the national news shows.
To be clear, the praise for Cox and his message was not unanimous. Some people were critical of what he said about hoping the gunman wasn’t from Utah.
“I was praying that if this had to happen here that it wouldn’t be one of us — that somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country. But it did happen here, and it was one of us," Cox said after Tyler Robinson was in custody.
Most saw this as Cox most certainly meant it — Utah has a reputation as a wholesome state filled with happy families and people of faith, the type of people receptive to a call to “disagree better.” No one wants to think that someone in their own community or family could be capable of such an evil act.
But a few people perceived the statement as discriminatory. And some commentators said that while Cox’s vision for America sounds nice, it’s not realistic, not anymore.
In a conversation with Megyn Kelly about people who want a “kumbaya moment” of unity and conversation to come from the tragedy, Donald Trump Jr. said he’d love that, “but who was better at that or kinder in doing that than Charlie Kirk, and they killed him. I don’t think it’s possible.”
That shows one of the challenges ahead. There are those in the conservative movement who say the time for compromise is past, citing those who celebrated the murder of Kirk in videos online as evidence of “lost liberals.” That was part of the wedge some tried to place between Cox and President Trump, until Cox himself worked to put the president’s comments in the context of the moment.
But there are signs that those who admired Charlie Kirk and his message, but felt intimidated or shouted down by those aspiring to a liberal agenda, now feel emboldened. In online messages, testimonials are appearing. And in cities like Seattle, where “Defund the Police” movements shut down whole neighborhoods, vigils were held in support of Kirk and nonviolence.
Can Utah show the way?
The influence that Cox had on the national discourse this week was evident in a poll taken by Michael Smerconish, a national commentator and podcaster who has said he’s “on a mission through my shows to prove that you can build an audience without being polarizing, while also being civil.”
Drawing from words that Cox said at a news conference, Smerconish asked his audience, “Is this the end of a dark chapter in our history or the beginning of a darker chapter in our history?”
The results were not encouraging. Nearly 92% of more than 60,000 respondents said it is the beginning.
While he did not answer the question at the news conference, Cox was optimistic in a conversation with Deseret News reporter Brigham Tomco.
“My whole hope is that this is a catalyst to help us find that off-ramp that we desperately need. And I think Utah is showing the way.”