Several months ago, Utah Governor Spencer Cox was one of the few prominent Republicans who kept his distance from Donald Trump, known for his brash style which seemed at odds with Cox’s carefully cultivated political brand centered around unity and respect.
Cox did not vote for Trump in 2016 and 2020, and in July of this year, he explicitly told CNN that he would not be voting for Trump this year either.
The governor believed that Trump’s role in inciting the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot was excessive.
However, a few days later, on July 13, after an assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, Cox had a change of heart.
Cox wrote a letter to Trump, explaining that Trump’s resolute reaction during the shooting incident prompted him to reassess his stance and change his mind.
This reversal by Cox puzzled political observers, as he had meticulously crafted a moderate image within the Republican Party over the past decade, akin to Utah Senator Mitt Romney who secured the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Cox’s standing within the state leadership also continued to rise.
In the letter to Trump, the 49-year-old Cox expressed belief that Trump could “save this country by emphasizing unity over hatred.”
Cox wrote, “You may not like me very much, but I want you to know that I promise to support you.”
Trump did not reciprocate the gesture, remaining noncommittal to Cox’s overture.
Last week, the two found themselves in the spotlight once again when they walked together at Arlington National Cemetery, sparking controversy and drawing attention to their perplexing relationship.
Initially, there was a commotion between Trump’s staff and a cemetery official, and shortly after, Cox used a photo of himself with Trump at the cemetery in his campaign fundraising email, violating regulations and potentially federal laws.
Federal law prohibits any campaign-related activities within national cemeteries. Arlington officials stated that this rule had been widely publicized prior to a ceremony honoring 13 servicemen on Monday.
Among the 13 servicemen honored was a soldier from Utah who sacrificed his life in an explosion at Kabul airport during the withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago.
Cox’s campaign team promptly issued an apology for politicizing the ceremony, while Trump’s campaign team maintained they had obtained permission to take photos in the restricted area.
Trump shared a commemorative video on TikTok, featuring scenes from the event at the cemetery with himself and Cox, as well as his condemnation of the Biden administration for the “disaster” of the withdrawal.
Their starkly different responses to the event highlighted their contrasting political styles and raised questions once again on why Cox chose to align himself with Trump.
After the failed assassination attempt, Trump made it clear that he had no intention of changing his ways.
Political science professor Chris Karpowitz at Brigham Young University in Utah analyzed that Cox’s participation in the commemorative event was to support a military family in the state, which was commendable. However, he noted that Cox got entangled in some ethically challenging situations while being with Trump, contradicting his own values. Karpowitz remarked that Cox was not the first politician to ally with Trump against his principles, nor the first to find himself in such a predicament.
Cox, running for re-election and expected to surpass his opponents easily, embracing Trump abruptly left some moderate individuals in Utah puzzled, individuals whom he had previously sought to appeal to.
Kyle Douglas from Orem voiced his disappointment, stating that when the governor chose to support a presidential candidate whose values diverged from his own, he lost Douglas’s trust.
Lucy Wright from Provo expressed her disdain straightforwardly, remarking that Trump was a big orange stain on Cox’s legacy.
Karpowitz also expressed surprise at Cox’s transformation, calling the governor’s belief that Trump could be a unifying figure in the country “naive.” The professor, like many in Utah, found it hard to comprehend why Cox thought supporting Trump would politically benefit the governor in the state.
It is believed that this decision could potentially harm Cox’s reputation among moderate voters and may not do much to win support from followers of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement. At this year’s state Republican convention, many MAGA supporters booed Cox.
Utah stands out as a Republican stronghold with conflicting views on Trump. His controversial statements and remarks on refugees and immigrants have unsettled many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a prominent religion in the state where about half of the 3.4 million residents belong to the Mormon Church.
As a Latter-day Saint, Cox stated that he believed God played a role in saving Trump’s life, even calling it a miracle.
At the time of the shooting incident on July 13, President Joe Biden was clinging to his party’s nomination, facing pressure from many Democrats to withdraw from the race due to concerns he might not win re-election after a stinging defeat to Trump in their debate in June.
In the letter to Trump, Cox expressed that he did not seek a cabinet position or a role in Trump’s team, but he told The Atlantic that he realized he could not have broader influence within the party if he did not stand by Trump.
Cox had not publicly expressed a desire to run for national office, instead striving to increase his visibility outside of Utah by chairing the National Governors Association. As chairman, he advocated a focus on restoring civility in politics and promoted the concept of “Disagree Better.”
A month prior to endorsing Trump, Cox easily defeated Phil Lyman, a fervent Trump supporter and accuser of election fraud after the 2020 presidential election, in the primary. Lyman, who still harbored animosity towards Cox, encouraged his supporters to write his name on the ballots in November instead of voting for Cox. Nevertheless, Cox is poised to defeat his Democratic opponent even without the support of the MAGA faction in the state.
Cox was not the first moderate Republican, certainly not the first in Utah, to abandon previous anti-Trump stances in favor of Trump’s peculiar charm.
In contrast, Romney was one of Trump’s harshest critics during the 2016 election, labeling him a phony and a fraud. However, after Trump’s victory, Romney dined with the president, discussing a senior diplomatic role within the Trump administration. Romney even praised Trump afterward, but shortly after, became one of the most vehement critics within the Republican Party again.
(Report referenced from the Associated Press)