Utah Gov. Spencer Cox isn’t sure about backing former President Donald Trump if he wins the Republican nomination in 2024.
But the first-term governor says Trump doesn’t give the GOP the best chance to win the presidency, retake the Senate or increase its slim majority in the House.
“Oh, I don’t know. Come ask me if that’s the case,” Cox, a Republican, said Thursday when asked during his monthly PBS Utah news conference whether he would support Trump if he becomes the nominee.
Cox also was asked about Sen. Mitt Romney’s prospects for winning a GOP primary in 2024 should he decide to seek reelection.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this past Sunday, Cox said he’d prefer that the Republican Party choose a governor to be its presidential nominee in 2024. He said he’d pick a governor “every day of the week” over a member of Congress.
Cox reiterated that Thursday. And though he threw out a few names, he didn’t voice who he would get behind.
“I believe in governors. I believe we have an opportunity. I believe that we lost the House, the Senate, the presidency with President Trump,” he said.
“I like winners and I think we need a winner, and I think there are several governors that are winners right now.”
Cox said he thinks Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “has the best chance,” adding he’s outpolling Trump in many places across the country. He called former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who kicked off her presidential campaign Wednesday, “fantastic” and a candidate with an “incredible” resume.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and former Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas are other names Cox mentioned.
Cox said he is “really” interested in Republicans winning the Senate and increasing their margins in the House and that he would “really, really” like to win back the presidency.
“I don’t think (Trump) gives us the best chance to do that,” he said.
As for Romney winning a Republican primary — something he will almost certainly face if he decides to run — Cox demurred as well.
“Oh, probably. I don’t know. Yeah, I think so,” the governor said.
Cox said he thinks Romney is well-liked and well-respected, but that there’s a divide within the GOP.
“Utah is the only place in the country where you could have Mike Lee and Mitt Romney in the same party. I think that’s a good thing. I don’t think we all have to be the same,” said Cox, who attended the State of the Union address last week as Lee’s guest.
Cox said he wouldn’t bet against Romney if he decides to run.
Romney and Cox have taken their lumps from conservative delegates at the state Republican Party convention as well as from conservative political commentators like Fox News’ Tucker Carlson.
State delegates forced Romney into a primary in 2018, which he easily won before handily beating a Democrat in the general election. Romney hasn’t announced whether he would seek a second term but has expressed confidence he would win if he runs.
A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll found 48.9% of Utahns approve of the job he is doing in the Senate, but 51.3% say he shouldn’t run again.