"But the Beehive State's governor is perhaps the most consistent voice of calm and conciliation in the GOP. Cox's impulse to appeal to what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature" was on display this morning in a press conference, where, flanked by FBI Director Kash Patel and local leaders, he announced the arrest of Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Kirk's killing, on Wednesday."
""This is certainly about the tragic death, political assassination of Charlie Kirk. But it is also much bigger than an attack on an individual," Cox said. "It is an attack on all of us. It is an attack on the American experiment. It is an attack on our ideals. This cuts to the very foundation of who we are, of who we have been, and who we could be in better times.""
"This kind of language was once common among mainstream politicians responding to a tragedy; now Cox is a notable and praiseworthy outlier in his own party. Trump's response has been mercurial. At times, the president has seemed to call for a calm, measured reaction to the shooting. "He was an advocate of nonviolence," Trump said of Kirk on Thursday. "That's the way I'd like to see people respond." In the next breath, however, he cast blame and demanded forceful reprisal."
Charlie Kirk was assassinated; Utah Governor Spencer Cox led the official response and announced the arrest of Tyler Robinson. Cox framed the killing as an attack on American ideals and appealed to unity, invoking Lincoln's "better angels of our nature" and urging calm. President Donald Trump's responses varied, alternating between calls for nonviolence and demands for forceful reprisal. Cox's moderation contrasts with more inflammatory political reactions, positioning him as an outlier in the Republican Party and a voice for conciliation during the crisis.
Read at The Atlantic
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