Both governors have experience dealing with political violence. Shapiro and his family were victims of it in April<\/a> when someone broke into the governor\u2019s residence and set it on fire. Cox, meanwhile, gained national attention for his leadership following the shooting death<\/a> of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University.<\/p>\n Shapiro praised his fellow governor for that during Tuesday\u2019s event.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw him lift up not just Utahns, but create an opportunity for a dialogue that I think we sorely need in this country to try and lift everyone up and get us out of the darkness of political violence that has fallen upon us,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n Cox said Shapiro was the first one to call him after Kirk was shot, urging him to \u201cspeak with moral clarity and to speak from the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care what color his politics are,\u201d Cox said. \u201cIn that moment, we were two Americans who were deeply saddened and struggling, and I\u2019m grateful that there\u2019s somebody I can trust. Even though we disagree on a lot of things, we agree on this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, center, speaks at an event at Washington National Cathedral with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, and NBC anchor Savannah Guthrie, right. (Jack Grimm, KSL)<\/p>\n Disagreeing better<\/p>\n During the roughly 45-minute exchange, the governors did disagree. Cox wants a ban on social media for kids, while Shapiro does not.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t say he\u2019s an evil person because he doesn\u2019t want to ban social media, right?\u201d Cox said. \u201cThat\u2019s the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n But some in the audience decided not to disagree better. Multiple hecklers interrupted the event and were escorted out.<\/p>\n \u201cThis idea that we feel it\u2019s OK to scream and interrupt now \u2014 we\u2019ve given a pass to this type of boorish behavior for far too long,\u201d Cox said. \u201cThis is what we get.\u201d<\/p>\n While this evening was bipartisan, it wasn\u2019t nonpartisan. President Trump came up during the conversation when Shapiro said that all leaders need to condemn political violence, no matter which side is involved. Trump was criticized<\/a> for his muted response following the murder of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker, and he told<\/a> attendees at Kirk\u2019s memorial service that he hates his political opponents.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re a governor, when you\u2019re a president of the United States, you are looked to for that moral clarity,\u201d Shapiro said, \u201cand we have a president of the United States right now that fails that test on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n President Donald Trump listens during a meeting at the White House, Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo, Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n Cox did not criticize the president \u2014 whom he endorsed in 2024 after not voting for him in the previous two election cycles \u2014 but he didn\u2019t exactly defend him either.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not trying to play down his divisive rhetoric at all. I\u2019m not going to do that,\u201d Cox said. \u201cBut I am going to say this. If we think that a president of the United States or a governor is going to change where we are right now, we\u2019re fooling ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Cox added, \u201cI truly believe that the people of our country are the ones that are going to have change this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m going to keep sharing\u2019<\/p>\n Cox planned to head back to Utah on Wednesday. He told KSL he did not have a meeting scheduled with Trump on this trip, but he hoped the president would hear the message he shared about improving political disagreement.<\/p>\n \u201cHe and I have had these conversations many times,\u201d Cox said in an interview after the event. \u201cHe\u2019s said he\u2019s grateful that I\u2019m sharing this message, and so it\u2019s one I\u2019m going to keep sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cox-5.jpg\")
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