{"id":13130,"date":"2025-09-11T14:32:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/disagree-better-governor-is-now-pleading-with-americans-to-stop-hating-each-other\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T14:32:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:32:18","slug":"disagree-better-governor-is-now-pleading-with-americans-to-stop-hating-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/disagree-better-governor-is-now-pleading-with-americans-to-stop-hating-each-other\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Disagree Better\u2019 governor is now pleading with Americans to stop hating each other"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Last week, during an event at the National Press Club, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore quoted a common rule for governors: \u201cIf you have not faced a tragedy,” Moore said, “just give it a second. Yours is on its way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore\u2019s tragedy was the Key Bridge collapse<\/a> last year, he said. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, sitting next to Moore, shook his head and offered his condolences. “I haven’t had to face anything quite like that,\u201d Cox noted.<\/p>\n

That tragedy for Cox came Wednesday afternoon, when conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot<\/a> on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, thrusting Cox\u2019s state into the national spotlight. The Utah governor offered a forceful rebuke Wednesday evening, calling it a \u201cpolitical assassination\u201d and vowing justice against the killer.<\/p>\n

But he also made an emotional plea, noting the assassination of a Democratic Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in June and the attempted killings of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro<\/a>, a Democrat, and President Donald Trump. \u201cOur nation is broken,\u201d he said, pleading that \u201call of us will try to find a way to stop hating our fellow Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox, the second-term Republican governor of Utah, has made such efforts at depolarization the central theme of his governorship. As chair of the National Governors Association, his initiative \u2014 \u201cDisagree Better\u201d \u2014 focused on building cross-aisle collaboration with blue states. He partnered with Moore and other Democratic governors on solutions to issues from teenage social media use to housing.<\/p>\n

He is so seriously committed to the cause that after the Butler assassination attempt last year, despite years of criticizing Trump, Cox endorsed him<\/a> \u2014 committing to “help (Trump) try to lower the temperature in this country,” Cox explained.<\/p>\n

The Kirk killing Wednesday, though, posed the largest trial yet for Cox\u2019s vision \u2014 and made Cox\u2019s state the epicenter for the political divide he has long warned against.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s going to be a challenge, but an important one, to lead out to say, \u2018This is not Utah, this is not the Utah way, this is not the American way,\u2019\u201d said Maury Giles, CEO of Braver Angels, a New York-based nonprofit that works to bridge partisan divides.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s shooting occurred as the 31-year-old Kirk addressed thousands of onlookers during the first stop of a planned nationwide tour of college campuses. Kirk, sitting under a tent that read \u201cProve Me Wrong\u201d and engaging in debate with ideological and political rivals, was shot in the neck midway through the event. The thousands of attendees, including children, fled in horror. Trump announced Kirk\u2019s death later Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

In an act of caution, Utah Highway Patrol officials were dispatched to the homes of prominent Utahns in the vicinity, including former Gov. Gary Herbert, who lives near the Orem campus and has an office at the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the jarring part was it happened in our own backyard,\u201d Herbert, a Republican, said. \u201cI think we expect more from ourselves than what we saw today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s clearly not the Utah way,\u201d added Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) on BLN on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

The \u201cUtah way,\u201d as Cox frequently puts it<\/a>, is \u201cdisagreeing better, not disagreeing less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox\u2019s tenure as National Governors Association chair, which ended last year, carried that message to the national stage, where Cox led in forging partnerships with national nonprofits and Democratic statewide leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just realized that we can\u2019t solve any of the biggest issues if we all hate each other,\u201d Cox told POLITICO last year<\/a>. \u201cAnd I\u2019m deeply concerned about the polarization in our country and our inability, especially in Congress, to work together and solve problems.\u201d To Cox, it is as much a religious effort as a political one: He credits the teachings of Russell M. Nelson, president of Cox\u2019s faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as his inspiration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tami Pyfer, co-creator of the Dignity Index<\/a>, a tool for analyzing the contemptuousness of political rhetoric, said Wednesday\u2019s act of violence was \u201csickening\u201d and a reminder that her mission is still very much incomplete.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s discouraging to look at the work that so many bridge-building organizations are doing across the country, literally hundreds of groups addressing this problem \u2014 we\u2019re working our hearts out,\u201d Pyfer said, her voice breaking. \u201cWe\u2019re working our hearts out to try to turn a corner on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pyfer, like Giles, is a Utah resident, and has worked closely with Cox on depolarization efforts. Both applauded Cox\u2019s speech Wednesday night, as did Scott Howell, a former Democratic state senator and Utah minority leader.<\/p>\n

“Spencer really did hit the point,\u201d Howell said. \u201cIt would have been so easy for him to have said, \u2018Democrats are the dregs of the earth\u2019 or whatever. I give him big kudos. I really do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cox\u2019s message was one of peacemaking. \u201cIf anyone in the sound of my voice celebrated, even a little bit, at the news of the shooting, I would beg you to look in the mirror and to see if you can find a better angel in there somewhere,\u201d Cox said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care what his politics are,\u201d Cox added about Kirk. \u201cI care that he was an American.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herbert \u2014 who said Cox\u2019s speech was \u201coutstanding, considering the circumstances\u201d \u2014 said his former lieutenant governor\u2019s biggest challenge lies ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question, ultimately, is how effective is what we say?\u201d Herbert said. \u201cHow does it impact what we do?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, during an event at the National Press Club, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore quoted a common rule for governors: \u201cIf you have not faced a tragedy,” Moore said, “just give it a second. Yours is on its way.\u201d Moore\u2019s tragedy was the Key Bridge collapse last year, he said. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, sitting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}