Cox called on citizens to be "builders."
“Building is hard. Building institutions is hard work; tearing them down is easy. Building up our neighbors in our communities is hard work,” he said. “But we need some architects. We need more builders.”
He added he’s hopeful people will put in the work to strengthen the country.
“There is nothing that says that we are inevitably going to get better as a country,” he said. “But I am hopeful. I’m hopeful because there are good people in this country that are willing to make it so.”
His remarks came at the close of the National Governors Association meeting in Salt Lake City Friday, but he shared his message again on X (formerly Twitter) Sunday morning, saying it was even more important than it had been before the shooting.
Secret Service agents rushed a bleeding Trump from the stage after shots were fired at a campaign rally north of Pittsburgh. The shooting, which is being investigated as an attempted assassination, killed one audience member and left two others in critical condition. The shooter was also killed.
Cox’s call for unity joins numerous other Utah leaders’ statements after the shooting.
Utah News Dispatch reports Utah Senate Pres. Stuart Adams called the attack “deeply troubling” and urged nonviolence.
State leaders from both parties condemned political violence.
Sen. Mike Lee called for “government control” instead of “gun control” and said all criminal charges against Trump should be dropped to “help heal wounds.”
And Sen. Mitt Romney called the attempted assassination “a heinous and evil act.”
Meanwhile, the Republican National Convention began in Milwaukee Monday, where Trump is seeking the party nomination for the presidency alongside newly-announced running mate J.D. Vance.
