Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and two of his predecessors warned against the corrosion of political debate — including former Gov. Gary Herbert, who leveled specific criticism Monday at a social media post by Donald Trump that blamed the alleged slaying of noted director Rob Reiner on “deranged” hatred of the president.
Reiner and his wife, Michelle, were found dead in their Los Angeles-area home Sunday night with stab wounds. The couple’s son Nick later was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday that their deaths were “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
Asked by reporters if he stood by the post, Trump said that Reiner — a vocal Trump critic and the director of classic movies such as “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “The Princess Bride” — was “deranged” and “very bad for our country.”
Herbert said he got along well with Trump but asked, “Is there not any ability for compassion and grace and respect under a difficult circumstance?”
“We’re on a pathway of division and divisiveness that we ought not to be on,” Herbert said, crediting Cox for trying to cool down the heated political rhetoric. “We, as Republicans, [need] to say, ‘Let’s hold our candidates to a higher standard. Same with Democrats. … Let’s have some grace and compassion and mutual respect. … We’re all God’s children.”
Herbert’s words, delivered as part of a panel discussion at the University of Utah with Cox and former Gov. Mike Leavitt before an audience of Republican donors and officeholders, drew applause from the crowd.
To read Robert Gerhke's full report visit sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.