Cox, a Latter-day Saint, said he believes God had a hand in saving Trump's life, even calling it a miracle.
Arlington cemetery controversy shines spotlight on Utah Gov. Spencer Cox's sudden embrace of Trump
Cox did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020, and told CNN in July that he would not vote for him this year. The governor said the then-president's role in inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol went too far.
Days later, after an assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, Cox changed his mind.
His turnabout bewildered political observers who, for the past decade, have watched Cox methodically build a persona as a moderate in the manner of Mitt Romney, the Utah senator who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, while climbing the ranks of state leadership.
“You probably don't like me much,” Cox wrote. "But I want you to know that I pledge my support.”
The pair’s puzzling relationship was thrust into the spotlight again this past week when they put themselves at the center of a controversy at Arlington National Cemetery. After Trump’s staff had an altercation with a cemetery official, Cox broke rules — and likely federal law — in using a graveside photo with Trump in a campaign fundraising email.
- Federal law prohibits campaign or election-related activities within the Army's national cemeteries, and officials at Arlington said that rule had been shared widely before Monday's ceremony honoring 13 service members, including one from Utah, who died in an airport bombing during the Afghanistan withdrawal three years ago.
- Cox's campaign issued a swift apology for politicizing the ceremony; Trump's has insisted it had permission to film in a restricted area.
- A TikTok video of the visit shared by Trump includes scenes of him and Cox at the cemetery with a voiceover of the former president blaming the Biden administration for the “disaster” of the withdrawal.
- “I'm confident that he was there to support a Utah family, and that's a laudable goal, but in being there with Donald Trump, he got pulled into something that creates some ethical challenges,” said Chris Karpowitz, a political science professor at Brigham Young University.
- “He allowed himself to compromise his values, and he's not the first politician aligning with Donald Trump to have found himself in that position.”
Kyle Douglas of Orem said he lost his trust in Cox when the governor chose to back a presidential candidate who does not share his values.
“I used to be proud that my governor was still one of the good guys,” Douglas said. “It’s so disappointing to see him sell out.”
Lucy Wright of Provo put her disgust more bluntly.
“Trump is a big orange stain on his legacy,” she said.
Karpowitz said he, too, was surprised by Cox's switch, and recalled thinking the governor's notion that Trump could be a unifying figure for the nation was “somewhat naive.” Like many in Utah, the professor said he found himself struggling to understand why Cox might have thought backing Trump would help the governor politically.
The decision risks Cox's reputation with his moderate voting base while likely doing little to win over followers of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement, many of whom booed Cox at the state GOP convention this year.
The state is a rare Republican stronghold that has half-heartedly embraced Trump, whose divisive rhetoric and comments about refugees and immigrants do not sit well with many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- About half of Utah’s 3.4 million residents belong to the faith known widely as the Mormon church.
Cox, a Latter-day Saint, said he believes God had a hand in saving Trump's life, even calling it a miracle.
At the time of the July 13 shooting, President Joe Biden was clinging to his party’s nomination in the face of unrelenting pressure from many Democrats to drop out as they feared he might be unable to win reelection after his disastrous debate against Trump in June.
Cox said in his letter to Trump that he was not looking for a Cabinet position or a role on the team, but the governor told The Atlantic he had come to realize he could not have broader influence within the party if he wasn't on Trump's side.
Cox has not publicly expressed a desire to run for national office, but he has worked to raise his profile beyond Utah by chairing the National Governors Association. His initiative as chairman, “Disagree Better,” focused on restoring civility in politics.
The Trump endorsement came a month after Cox breezed to victory in the primary over ardent Trump supporter Phil Lyman, who espoused false claims of election fraud after the 2020 presidential election. Lyman remained defiant and encouraged his supporters to write his name on the November ballot instead of voting for Cox, who is expected to defeat his Democratic opponent even without the support of the state’s MAGA faction.
- Romney had been one of Trump’s most strident critics in the 2016 election, calling him a phony and a fraud. But after Trump’s victory, Romney met the president for dinner to discuss a top diplomatic job in Trump’s administration. After the meeting, he even praised Trump but has since reverted to being one of Trump's fiercest Republican critics.
Utah Governor Apologizes For Campaigning With Photo From Trump's Cemetery Visit
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) issued a mea culpa Wednesday for sending out a campaign email with a photo of him and Donald Trump at Virginia’s Arlington National Cemetery ― a visit mired in controversy after Trump staff and a cemetery employee reportedly got into an altercation over taking photos and video on the grounds.
Cox apologized after catching flak for the campaign email, which featured an image of him and the presidential candidate at the grave of one of 13 service members who died when the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021. The email included a message asking Cox’s supporters to honor the service members’ memory, as well as a link to donate to his reelection campaign.“This was not a campaign event and was never intended to be used by the campaign. It did not go through the proper channels and should not have been sent. My campaign will be sending out an apology,” Cox posted on X, formerly Twitter, when it was pointed out that the cemetery forbids the use of its grounds for political and campaign purposes.
His office did not immediately respond when asked for more details about how such an email went out in error.Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, left, shakes hands with former President Donald Trump at Virginia's Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. Kevin Carter via Getty Images Cox’s response to criticism stood in stark contrast to that of the Trump campaign, which has struck a highly combative tone amid the controversy.
“There was no physical altercation as described, and we are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told NPR after it reported that two of Trump’s aides “verbally abused and pushed ... aside” a cemetery staffer who tried to stop the campaign from taking photos and videos.
“The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony,” he continued.
After reports of the altercation, Trump posted a video to TikTok showing him walking near the graves of recently buried service members as audio plays of him criticizing President Joe Biden’s administration, which oversaw the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.
Arlington National Cemetery confirmed that an “incident” occurred and that “a report was filed.” It also shared its policy around campaign activities on the grounds.“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” the cemetery said in a statement. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”
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