Utah governor may be too busy angling for national office to see hypocrisy in his behavior
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Gov. Spencer Cox makes remarks during a news conference announcing an arrest of a suspect in the shooting death of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025.
Oh, Utah. What a tragic week we’ve had. We are typically a flyover spot for national news coverage and analysis of horrible events.
Except when the truly freaky stuff happens: Think “Mormon Bomber” Mark Hoffman. Or polygamist brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty who killed their sister-in-law for getting all uppity against plural marriage. And Fundamental LDS prophet Warren Jeffs who decided to “marry” an underage girl to facilitate rape.
And now Tyler Robinson, a socially isolated 22-year-old who gave up a college scholarship, took to studying electrician work in St. George, who apparently languished in video game world, is in the Utah County Jail, suspected of killing conservative influencer Charlie Kirk at Orem’s Utah Valley University. The 40+ hour pursuit of this suspect was a nail biter. With the luck of a family that did the right thing by turning Robinson in, the manhunt ended on Sept. 12.
There wasn’t much time to breathe after this tragedy, for sure. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was present through all of it. This is what good governors do. They show up in the bleakest of times to support their state. We typically see them on the scene after a natural disaster, consoling survivors of earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes.
More and more, their involvement includes shepherding us through high-profile murders and mass shootings.
Cox’s passionate national statement shortly after Robinson’s capture was captivating. He urged every American to “find an off ramp” to political division and hatred. It was all about tempering our rage against opponents; and ratcheting back on social media. “The American Experiment”, he said, hangs in the balance.
No arguments there. It was beautiful.
And then came the Sunday TV news analysis talk shows. And all the social media unpacking that comes with them.
Suddenly, Cox was disposed to slipping jabs at progressive folks, with his understanding of Robinson’s past couple of years. This man, he said, was “radicalized” and was sharing an apartment and a romantic relationship, apparently, with a person who is transitioning from male to female.
And the sudden transgender pivot has what to do with anything, really?
The question is which is it, governor? Are we as a society in dire need of trying to understand viewpoints other than our own and in reaching out to people we disagree with?
Or are we simply to stay with our own kind and comfort, picking sides and maligning others we find distasteful or scary? Our governor’s whipsaw evolution in talking points over the past few days would be shocking, had we not seen similar behavior in the recent past. This is really no different than the man we in Utah have come to know in the past nine years. In 2016, then-Utah Lt. Gov. Cox headlined a dramatic public vigil at Salt Lake City Hall after the Orlando, Fla., Pulse gay nightclub massacre. With candles flickering and people hugging their friends and partners, Cox beautifully and tearfully eulogized the dead, urging more empathy for others and sharing his own experiences as a struggling adolescent in deeply red rural Utah.
A few years later, Cox was governor and signed bills from a GOP-controlled Legislature that denied transgender adults, students, and athletes medical and educational support.
In 45 years as a newswoman, I covered governors including Republican Arne Carlson in Minnesota, Democrat Ann Richards and Republican George W. Bush in Texas, and Republicans Mike Leavitt and Jon Huntsman Jr., in Utah. I am the widow of Ted Wilson, a three-term Salt Lake City mayor and Democrat known statewide for working both sides of the aisle.
Which is to say, I’ve seen true grit in a lot of politicians, both D’s and R’s. Cox may be too busy angling for national office at this moment to see the hypocrisy in his behavior. Maybe he has too many consultants pulling his strings and vying for stardom of their own.
What is Cox’s truth?
Who knows. But really, what we need in Utah is a governor who does right by all of us. Every day, a person who leads out in the bland sameness of it all, and especially on the days when all hell breaks loose. Who tries harder to represent all of us. And means it. That is all.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Holly Mullen in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022.
Holly Mullen is a freelance journalist living in Millcreek. She has reported and edited at newspapers across the U.S., including in Utah at The Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News and Ogden Standard-Examiner.
The Salt Lake Tribune is committed to creating a space where Utahns can share ideas, perspectives and solutions that move our state forward. We rely on your insight to do this. Find out how to share your opinion here, and email us at [email protected].