Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) gave an impassioned speech on Friday about the rise of political violence, giving an emotional appeal to Americans to reject villainizing the other side of the aisle.
“I don’t want to get too preachy, but I think it’s important that we, with eyes wide open, understand what’s happening in our country today,” Cox said at a press conference announcing the arrest of a suspect in the shooting, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson.
“The problem with political violence is it metastasizes, because we can always point the finger at the other side, and at some point we have to find an off ramp, or it’s going to get much, much worse.”
Cox’s 10-minute speech, given after announcing the details of the search for Robinson, went deep on rising mistrust in American society and championed aspects of Kirk’s activism, including his push for dialogue in the hopes of engaging with – and persuading – those with different beliefs.
Kirk has made a number of controversial comments as an activist, including on race and gender, but he also went to college campuses and other environments thought to be liberal strongholds, stressing the need for civil debate.
“When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence. That’s when civil war happens, because you start to think the other side is so evil, and they lose their humanity,” Kirk is seen saying in one undated clip circulating widely on social media in the wake of his death.
Cox called political violence “different than any other type of violence.”
“I’ve heard people say, ‘Well, why are we so invested in this? There’s violence happening all across our country, and violence is tragic everywhere, and every life taken is a child of God who deserves our love and respect and dignity,” the governor said.
“This is certainly about the tragic death, assassination – political assassination of Charlie Kirk. But it is also much bigger than an attack on an individual. It is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been and who we could be in better times.”
At many turns, Cox spoke directly to young voters.
“To my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option. …Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now, not by pretending differences don’t matter, but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations. I think we need more moral clarity right now, I hear all the time that words are violence. Words are not violence. Violence is violence,” he said.
“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. And yet, all of us have an opportunity right now to do something different.”
Cox later described Kirk’s assassination as a “watershed” event in American history.
“History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country, but every single one of us gets to choose right now if this is a turning point for us, we get to make decisions. We have our agency. And I desperately call on every American – Republican, Democrat, liberal, progressive, conservative, MAGA – all of us to please, please, please follow what Charlie taught me,” he said.
“I still believe that there is more good among us than evil, and I still believe that we can change the course of history. I’m hopeful because Americans can make it so.”
