Utah governor renews call for ‘civility’ one year after Charlie Kirk assassination

PHILADELPHIA — Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT), the Utah governor who rose to national prominence with his calls for civility in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, used a stage in Philadelphia to argue that his message is just as salient one year later.Cox sat down with Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) on Wednesday night for a forum centered on the First Amendment and how America’s tradition of free expression is at risk due to a rising tide of political violence.“This experiment that we embarked on 250 years ago, right here — I mean, a stone’s throw from where we are tonight — that experiment cannot survive if we have contempt, if we despise half of the country, if we refuse to engage and debate,” Cox said at the Knight Foundation forum, moderated by Lulu Garcia-Navarro of the New York Times. “That’s what concerns me and should concern all of us,” he added, speaking to a mostly older audience at the Kimmel Center.It’s a warning that Cox has been making often lately. He’s been promoting a book, Off Ramp: How to Be a Peacemaker in an Age of Contempt, that he says he was inspired to finish in the aftermath of the Kirk shooting, which took place on Sept. 10 — almost a year ago to the day — in his home state.The forums with governors of the opposite party date back even further — to when Cox, a Mormon Republican, chaired the National Governors Association and began a Disagree Better initiative.The assassination of Kirk, a conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder, came up repeatedly as Cox discussed a return to civil discourse. He called it a “heavy moment” and credited the advice he got from Shapiro in its aftermath to “ditch my talking points and to speak from the heart.”At the time of the shooting, Cox received bipartisan praise for his remarks urging the nation to “touch grass” and get off social media, which he blames for the growing polarization.Garcia-Navarro, the moderator, also brought up the 2025 firebombing of Shapiro’s home on the first night of Passover, as well as the Capitol Police finding that threats against lawmakers rose almost 58% in 2025.Despite those data points, Cox said he was “more hopeful than I’ve been in a long time” that the public discourse was turning away from vitriol — and claimed that the environment was primed for a leader to capitalize on voters he said were desperate for civility.Cox has flatly denied that he would run for president in 2028, the final year of his second term as Utah governor. To emphasize the point, he ruled out a presidential run in the first sentence of his book.Cox did, however, joke that “there may be somebody in this room” who takes that approach. Shapiro, a pragmatic Democrat who is up for reelection in November, is widely considered a possible contender for president.“Somebody’s going to run and make this an issue, and I think the first party that figures this out is going to win big,” Cox said. “I hope it’s my party. I really do. But if not, then, you know — we’ll see what happens.”There were subtle allusions to President Donald Trump and his bombastic rhetoric, with Shapiro at one point telling Cox that he is in a “unique position within the Republican Party to help heal it and to help bring our country together.”Shortly after the Kirk shooting, Trump eulogized Kirk, known for his debates on college campuses, as someone who “did not hate his opponents.”“He wanted the best for them,” Trump said at Kirk’s memorial service. “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.”The forum took place one week after a judge ruled that the trial of Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, can proceed. The 23-year-old is accused of killing Kirk at an event at Utah Valley University and has been charged with aggravated murder.It also occurred as Republicans were hosting a midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, where an empty seat was reserved onstage to honor Kirk.Shapiro, asked about the acts of violence that have taken place in his own state, including the attempted assassination of Trump in 2024, blamed political leaders for rhetoric he said was flirting with inciting violence.He also denounced the “angriest voices, which make up the dark corners of the internet and some dark corners of our society,” as he warned of rising antisemitism.His remark comes as Democrats grapple with the political influence of Hasan Piker, a progressive Twitch streamer who recently suggested that American Jews were at fault for the violence perpetrated against them.REDISTRICTING PUSHES VULNERABLE HOUSE DEMOCRATS TO THE RIGHT IN FLORIDAIn lighter moments, the two governors joked about Philadelphia cheesesteaks — Cox declined to pick a favorite — and home state rivalries in professional basketball.On other occasions, Cox has sat for forums with Democratic governors like Wes Moore of Maryland and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico.