{"id":411757,"date":"2026-01-16T22:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/411757\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T22:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:50:07","slug":"former-sen-kyrsten-sinema-interrupted-by-hecklers-in-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/411757\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema interrupted by hecklers in Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two men disrupted a panel in Salt Lake City by claiming they\u2019d had affairs with Sinema, who was sued this week by the ex-wife of a Senate bodyguard who alleged Sinema ruined her marriage.<\/p>\n

(Paighten Harkins | The Salt Lake Tribune) A heckler is escorted out of a ballroom at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City after interrupting former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026.<\/p>\n

Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Gov. Spencer Cox were discussing disruption \u2014 in the economy, in the tech sector, in politics \u2014 at a Salt Lake City policy summit Friday when disruption broke out in the audience.<\/p>\n

Natalie Gochnour, director of the University of Utah\u2019s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, had noted that all three of the state\u2019s research universities were represented on stage: through herself as a University of Utah Ute, through Cox, as a Utah State University Aggie, and by Sinema, who represented Arizona and is a Brigham Young University cougar.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get called that a lot,\u201d Sinema joked, eliciting a chuckle from the audience.<\/p>\n

Then a man wearing a suit stood up, declaring: \u201cLadies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am actually having an affair with Kyrsten Sinema,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t immediately clear to the audience if it was a planned bit. He continued yelling as staff escorted him out of the room.<\/p>\n

The panelists tried to get back on track. Then another man stood up, yelling nearly the same thing as the first, but he was much closer to the stage.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

He was quickly grabbed and escorted out. <\/p>\n

The outburst Friday morning came after the ex-wife of a member of Sinema\u2019s former Senate security team sued her this week<\/a>, alleging Sinema had seduced her former husband and broken up their marriage. Sinema served one term before leaving office last year.<\/p>\n

Utah Highway Patrol troopers on Cox\u2019s security team wrangled both of the men out of the room. Salt Lake City police then responded, and hotel management said they did not want the men on the property, according to a police department spokesperson. <\/p>\n

Neither of the men were cited or arrested, although they could be if they return to the hotel, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

After the first interruption, Sinema and Cox had started talking about policy and today\u2019s strange political and economic moment. Sinema, a former Democrat turned independent, said the word she\u2019d use to describe these times was \u201cdisruption\u201d \u2014 meaning the usual rules don\u2019t apply anymore, and that can be a good or bad thing. <\/p>\n

\u201cI promise I didn\u2019t plan that,\u201d she joked about the incident moments earlier.<\/p>\n

(Paighten Harkins | The Salt Lake Tribune) Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, left, speaks at a policy summit at the Grand America Hotel on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, with Natalie Gochnour, director of the University of Utah\u2019s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, and Gov. Spencer Cox.<\/p>\n

After the second interruption, the panel continued for about 30 more minutes without further disruptions.<\/p>\n

The discussion, moderated by Gochnour, was the opening keynote of the annual Utah Economic Outlook & Public Policy Summit<\/a>, hosted by the policy institute, as well as the Utah Chamber, Salt Lake Chamber.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s theme was \u201cInvesting in Utah,\u201d and speakers discussed a swath of concerning economic indicators, like slowing job growth, homeownership and birth rates, and a general sense of financial uncertainty and unease.<\/p>\n

Still, Phil Dean, the policy institute\u2019s chief economist, said he expected Utah\u2019s economy to continue to outperform the U.S. economy in 2026.<\/p>\n

During the panel, Gochnour asked how the business community gathered in the hotel\u2019s ballroom could do more to contribute to the state\u2019s future prosperity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need you to get more involved. I\u2019m going to be very blunt with you all,\u201d Cox said. \u201cYou have abandoned us. You have. We do not see the business community on Capitol Hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor said it wasn\u2019t that way when he was first elected, more than a decade ago. If these leaders wanted change, or were unhappy with their current representation, Cox said, they need to find people to run for these positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of you need to run for the Legislature. We need you. We desperately need you,\u201d Cox said, followed by a round of brief applause.<\/p>\n

Near the end of the panel discussion, Sinema was asked how Utah is different from other states and what advice she has for Utah going forward. She said Utahns should continue to rely on their \u201ccore set of values,\u201d and what she described as their innate tolerance for others.<\/p>\n

Utahns should hold on to that, she said, and stay engaged to elect leaders with collaborative mindsets.<\/p>\n

Utah is a \u201dvery, very special place,” with values that she thinks sets the state and its people apart, despite \u201ctwo just notable exceptions today,\u201d Sinema joked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pretty sure,\u201d Cox quipped, \u201cthey came from somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two men disrupted a panel in Salt Lake City by claiming they\u2019d had affairs with Sinema, who was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,197526,197522,197527,70115,197524,3,197525,21,19,22,20,25,24,197523],"class_list":{"0":"post-411757","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-chef-quality-meal-prep","10":"tag-meal-delivery-service","11":"tag-meal-delivery-service-2026","12":"tag-meal-prep","13":"tag-meal-prep-delivery","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-salt-lake-city-meal-prep","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa","22":"tag-utah-meal-delivery-service"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}