Utah governor, a longtime Trump skeptic, offers endorsement after assassination attempt

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox was one of the only Republicans holding statewide office who had held out on endorsing former President Donald Trump. Not anymore.

Cox, a longtime Trump skeptic who has said he never voted for the former president and called on him to resign following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, on Friday threw his weight behind him.

“I am doing everything I can to help and support him,” Cox said at a news conference. “We will still have lots of disagreements, I’m sure, and we’ll still do everything we can to help the state of Utah and help the Republican Party be successful.”

Cox committed to voting for Trump in the election.

The endorsement came a day after Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination and nearly a week after he survived an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.

The day after the shooting, Cox privately threw his support behind Trump in a letter , writing that he believed Trump’s life was spared due to a “miracle” and that “I humbly submit that you — and I sincerely mean this — only you — can” unify the country.

“Mr. President, I know we have some differences and you probably don’t like me much. And that’s OK. I get it. I am not writing this letter looking for a position in your Cabinet or a role on your team,” Cox wrote in the letter, obtained by POLITICO and first reported by Deseret News . “But I have loved so many of your policies … [and] I have told everyone that you are going to win the state of Utah and you are going to win the presidency again.”

That’s a change of tune for Cox, who is known for a more middle-of-the-road approach. Last month, he told POLITICO he’s “not anti-Trump,” but emphasized that “I have serious issues with some of the things he’s done, I love some of the things he’s done.” And he was more explicit in an interview with CNN last week, before the assassination attempt. He told the network that “not going to vote for either presidential candidate this year. I’ll write somebody in, as I’ve done in the past.”

Cox also spoke out against the former president after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol more than three years ago. “I certainly think it would be good for the nation if [Trump] were willing to resign,” Cox said on ABC’s “ Good Morning America ” on Jan. 11, 2021.

Cox said that he didn’t vote for Trump in the last two elections, and has previously dodged the question of if he’s voting for him this year. And Trump did not issue an endorsement ahead of Cox’s primary this year — though he still beat a far-right challenger in a landslide.

Cox just wrapped as chair of the National Governors Association, a bipartisan group he led with Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. Last year, he advocated for a governor to be the GOP’s nominee — a criteria Trump did not meet — and earlier this year said that the Republican Party would be making “ a huge mistake ” if it nominated Trump. Cox’s wife and lieutenant governor served on former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley’s leadership team.

Madison Fernandez contributed to this report.