Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said President Donald Trump called him after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, describing the conversation as “very sobering” and saying the president expressed anger and concern for himself and other Republican figures.
Cox told CNN’s State of the Union that Trump thanked him for a press conference Cox held following the slaying, urged nonviolence and repeatedly voiced that someone who would kill Kirk might also target other conservative leaders. Asked about a report in The Atlantic that quoted Trump saying, “the type of person who would do something like that to Charlie Kirk would love to do it to us,” Cox said, "He's not wrong," while stopping short of fully confirming the precise wording attributed to the president.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck Wednesday while speaking to students at Utah Valley University during an event tied to his "American Comeback Tour." Authorities arrested 22-year-old Tyler Robinson after a roughly 33-hour manhunt. Cox said Robinson, a trade-school student and onetime devout Mormon, had not been cooperating with investigators and described him as “deeply indoctrinated in leftist ideology.”
The governor recounted that the White House had asked him to do a series of Sunday television appearances to underscore concerns about escalating political violence and to emphasize nonviolent responses. Cox, a Republican who has clashed with Trump in the past, said the president was "gracious" about his handling of the aftermath and thanked him "multiple times for my words." He added that Trump was "angry," a reaction Cox called understandable given Kirk was a close friend of the president.
Kirk was a prominent conservative influencer who built an audience among young conservatives. His death drew swift condemnation from leaders across the political spectrum and intensified debate over political rhetoric, online radicalization and public safety for elected officials and activists.
Cox, who said he himself narrowly avoided a fatal gunshot wound last year, urged the media to highlight the call for nonviolence and blamed social media platforms and their algorithms for helping to radicalize users. He told NBC’s Meet the Press that social media has ‘‘played a direct role in every single assassination and assassination attempt that we have seen over the last five, six years" and called the platforms' impact "cancer." Cox noted that Utah has enacted comprehensive reforms aimed at the issue.
The slaying prompted public statements from Trump, who has publicly called for the death penalty for the suspect and blamed "the radical left" for allegedly influencing the attacker. Cox said that sentiment reflected the president's anger at the loss of a close friend and the broader threat the violence poses.
Cox, who supported Sen. Ted Cruz over Trump in the 2016 Republican primary and has sparred with Trump allies at times, acknowledged criticism from some on the right, including former White House adviser Steve Bannon, over his calls to temper rhetoric. "Mr. Bannon is angry, and rightfully so," Cox said, while maintaining the need to prioritize messages of nonviolence.
Authorities have said Robinson was arrested after an intensive search but have provided limited public detail about his motive. Investigators have been conducting interviews and are continuing to process evidence as the case proceeds through the legal system.
The exchange between Cox and Trump came amid heightened attention to security for public figures after a series of violent episodes in recent years and renewed debate inside and outside government over the role of social media, political discourse and law enforcement in preventing politically motivated attacks.
Cox said he hopes national attention will focus on de-escalation. "[Kirk] was an advocate of nonviolence. That’s the way I’d like to see people respond," he told reporters, urging broader reflection on how political speech and online platforms may contribute to real-world harm. The investigation into Kirk's killing remains active and prosecutors have yet to announce formal charges or a prosecution timeline.