Since the tragic assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, conservative voters have rightly criticized weak-kneed responses from elected Republicans, whose refusal to confront leftist-led political violence has arguably contributed to the growing problem. While much of this frustration has been directed at figures like GOP Sens. James Lankford and Thom Tillis, there’s one notable Republican whose left-wing antics have gone unaccounted for: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.
During a Sunday interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Cox was asked by left-wing hack Dana Bash about comments made by Trump ally Steve Bannon. Addressing Cox’s response to Kirk’s assassination at a Utah university, Bannon reportedly called the governor a “national embarrassment,” and said in part, “In a time where we need action, he tells us to sing kumbaya and hold hands with Antifa.”
Cox acknowledged Bannon is “rightfully” angry but insisted he is “not saying we have to just sing kumbaya and hold hands” and that “we actually should disagree.” While he went on to praise Kirk’s willingness to engage with those he disagreed with, the GOP governor handed legacy media the soundbite they were clearly looking for by characterizing Kirk’s rhetoric as “inflammatory.”
“What I’m saying is, we actually should disagree. I think Charlie represented that better than anyone,” Cox said. “Charlie said some very inflammatory things. And in some corners of the web, that’s all people have heard. But he also said some other things about forgiveness. He said some amazing things about, when things get dark, putting down our phones, reading Scripture, going to church, talking to our neighbors.”
The moment may not seem like much when compared to the pathetic responses from Republicans like Lankford and Tillis. But in actuality, it offered Americans a window into the kind of Republican Cox truly is.
While the Beehive State governor deserves credit for attempting to bring a sense of comfort to Utahns and other Americans grieving Kirk’s assassination, it is impossible to ignore his role in promoting the same destructive ideology that ultimately corrupted the mind and soul of Kirk’s killer. As governor, Cox has regularly embraced transgenderism and its accompanying delusions.
While speaking virtually to a group of schoolchildren in 2021, for instance, Cox advanced the false notion that one can choose their sex and gender pronouns. After a female who proclaimed to be bisexual introduced herself using her preferred pronouns, the GOP governor followed suit and touted anti-American DEI ideology in the process.
“I am Gov. Spencer Cox, and I have the pleasure today of hosting the first One Utah Student Town Hall, and my preferred pronouns are ‘he, him, and his.’ So, thank you for sharing yours with me,” Cox said. “I believe in helping young leaders learn and grow by listening to them and by providing platforms to share their voices. Leading with equity and inclusion starts at a young age …”
Cox also previously listed his preferred pronouns in his Instagram bio at one point, but has since deleted them, according to a March 2022 Daily Wire report.
[READ: Utah Governor Defends Racism As Long As It’s Against White Kids]
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Beehive State governor’s track record on transgenderism gets even worse.
In spring 2022, Cox vetoed legislation seeking to bar trans-identifying men from competing in women’s sports. His reasoning for doing so? That he wanted to “err on the side of kindness, mercy, and compassion.”
“I am not an expert on transgenderism. I struggle to understand so much of it and the science is conflicting,” Cox wrote at the time about a destructive ideology whose accompanying “medical” procedures harm its adherents.
Fortunately, the state legislature overwhelmingly overrode Cox’s veto to protect the sanctity of women’s sports.
Shoehorning radical gender ideology down Utahns’ throats under the guise of “kindness” and “inclusion” also appeared to be behind Cox’s decision to designate June as “LBGTQ+ Pride Month” in 2021. The move was “the first such statewide designation in Utah’s history,” according to Deseret News.
While Cox did sign a bill in 2023 that purported to prohibit damaging “trans” procedures for minors, the legislation, as Tristan Justice previously noted in these pages, “doesn’t do much of anything.”
“The new law signed by the Utah governor … only bars transgender procedures and hormone interventions for minors who have not been diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” Justice wrote. “In other words, minors can find a sympathetic physician steeped in wrongly named ‘gender-affirming care’ who will give them a diagnosis that enables them to pump their bodies full of wrong-sex hormones and amputate their healthy organs. Teens focused on gender-bending can even be diagnosed online.”
[RELATED: Utah GOP Gov. Spencer Cox’s Reelection Campaign Is Bankrolled By Far-Left Democrats]
Contrary to his apparent belief otherwise, Cox’s years-long willingness to not only accommodate but promote “trans” ideology is the exact opposite of compassion. Indulging and advancing the anti-truth delusions of gender dysphoric individuals is harmful to them and — as evidenced by Kirk’s assassination — others.
This is not to blame Cox for Kirk’s assassination. The monster who pulled the trigger is ultimately the one responsible for such barbarity.
But the fact remains that the cowardice of feckless Republicans like Cox and their refusal to confront the left’s radical ideology have helped foster an environment in which unhinged leftists feel emboldened to step outside the norms of civil discourse. That is, these extremists have come to view violence against their political opponents as an acceptable way to acquire and maintain power.
Elected Republicans have a duty-bound obligation to crush such violent forces using every and all legal tools available to protect the lives of their constituents. Anything short of that is unacceptable.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
