Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Where We Go From Here

I don't want to get too preachy, but I think it's important that we, with eyes wide open, understand what's happening in our country today. I've heard people say, "Well, why are we so invested in this? There's violence happening all across our country.” And violence is tragic everywhere, and every life taken is a child of God, who deserves our love and respect and dignity.

This is certainly about the tragic death, political assassination, of Charlie Kirk. But it is also much bigger than an attack on an individual. 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.

Political violence is different than any other type of violence, for lots of different reasons. One, because the very act that Charlie championed, freedom of expression, that is enshrined in our founding documents. Having his life taken in that very act makes it more difficult for people to feel like they can share their ideas—that they can speak freely. We will never be able to solve all the other problems, including the violence problems that people are worried about, if we can't have a clash of ideas safely and securely, especially with those with whom you disagree. That's why this matters so much.

Over the last 48 hours, I have been as angry as I have ever been, as sad as I have ever been. And it was, as anger pushed me to the brink, it was actually Charlie's words that pulled me back. I'd like to share some of those, and specifically right now, if I could, I need to talk to the young people in my state and all across the country.

As President Trump reminded me, he said: You know who really loved Charlie? The youths.” And he's right. Young people loved Charlie. And young people hated Charlie. And Charlie went into those places anyway.

And these are the words that have helped me. Charlie said: “When people stop talking, that's when you get violence.” He said: “The weak can never forgive; forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

“The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive. Welcome without judgment, love without condition, forgive without limit.” He said: “Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much.”

A few months ago, Charlie posted on social media: “When things are moving very fast and people are losing their minds, it's important to stay grounded. Turn off your phone, read scripture, spend time with friends, and remember, Internet fury is not real life. It's going to be okay.“

He again said: "When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to commit violence." He said, "What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have reasonable agreement where violence is not an option.”

Now, again, to my young friends out there, you are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option. But through those words, we have a reminder that we can choose a different path. Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now. Not by pretending differences don't matter, but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations.

I think we need more moral clarity right now. I hear all the time that words are violence. Words are not violence, violence is violence. And there is one person responsible for what happened here, and that person is now in custody and will be charged soon and will be held accountable.

And yet, all of us have an opportunity right now to do something different. I want to thank my fellow Utahans. You know, this bad stuff happens, and for 33 hours, I was praying that if this had to happen here, that it wouldn't be one of us, that somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country. Sadly, that prayer was not answered the way I hoped for. Just because I thought it would make it easier on us if we could just say: "Hey, we don't do that here."

Indeed, Utah is a special place. We leave the nation in charitable giving and we lead the nation in service every year. But it did happen here and it was one of us. But I want you to look at how Utahns reacted the last two nights. There was no rioting. There was no looting. There were no cars set on fire. There was no violence. There were vigils and prayers and people coming together to share the humanity.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, I believe is the answer to this. We can return violence with violence, we can return hate with hate. And that's the problem with political violence: it metastasizes. Because, we can always point the finger at the other side. And at some point, we have to find an off ramp or it's going to get much, much worse.

But see, these are choices that we can make. History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country. But every single one of us gets to choose right now if this is a turning point for us. We get to make decisions. We have our agency. And I desperately call on every American: Republican, Democrat, liberal, progressive, conservative, MAGA, all of us to please, please, please: follow what Charlie taught me.

I'll just conclude with words I share often from a friend and author Yuval Levin, who was asked if he was optimistic about our country. He said, "I'm not optimistic." He said, "I hate optimism." That sounds bad." But he said, "Optimism is a vice. It's this idea that good things are just going to happen.” And he said: “In the history of the world, good things have never just happened.”

He said, "I'm not optimistic, but I am hopeful.” And hope is the virtue that sits between the vices of optimism and pessimism. Hope is the idea that good things are going to happen because we can make them so. I still believe in our country, and I know Charlie Kirk believed in our country. I still believe that there is more good among us than evil. And I still believe that we can change the course of history. I'm hopeful because Americans can make it so.