When Gov. Spencer Cox endorsed Donald Trump for president last July, Cox sent a letter to the Republican nominee expressing his belief that, following a near assassination, Trump had an opportunity, like Abraham Lincoln, to unite a country on the verge of tearing itself apart.
Nearly a year later, Cox said he wishes the now-president would spend more time trying to build common ground with political opponents.
“I think if he were here, he’d tell you it’s not his top priority,” the governor said Monday during a “Common Ground Forum” hosted by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in California.
Author Steve Hayes, who moderated the discussion, noted that Cox’s endorsement surprised many of his supporters and asked the governor for a progress report on how he thinks the president has done.
Cox said he has a “great relationship” with Trump, even though “it’s no secret I’d supported other candidates for president.
“He wasn’t my first choice. He was far down the list. … He knows this, we’ve had these conversations,” Cox said. “Yet, you know, there was a moment where I could just burn it all down and say, ‘That’s what’s going to happen,’ or I can try to help and try to make things better — and that’s certainly what I’ve attempted to do in this space.”
For the past two years, Cox has been promoting his philosophy of “Disagree Better” — which centers on being able to address contentious issues with respect and civility. The governor said he has had discussions with the president about topics on which they agree and those where they disagree, but he “would love him to adopt the Disagree Better mantra.”
“I think he would be more successful if he did that,” Cox said. “I think when there’s been opportunities for him to reflect and change course to bring people together, he can be really good at it.
But, he said, in the current political climate, there isn’t much incentive for leaders to promote unity. He specifically referenced a National Governors Association meeting last year with then-President Joe Biden where Cox, as chair of the association at the time, made a traditional toast to the president.
(Pete Marovich | The New York Times) Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah toasts President Joe Biden during a bipartisan gathering of state governors, at the White House in Washington on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
The image of that toast ended up in ads by Cox’s Republican primary opponent, former Rep. Phil Lyman, attacking the governor for being too friendly to the president from the opposing party.
It has become common, Cox said, for people to identify themselves more with their political allegiance rather than members of a community, and the tendency is exacerbated by social media that enables people “to get in these insular groups and to keep us from finding truth.”
“We’re only surrounded by people,” he added, “that sound just like us and we get rewarded by taking people down.”
