‘It’s Insane’: Utah’s Republican Governor Blasts Critics Who Questioned Him Greeting Biden

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

The Republican governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, hit back at critics on Thursday who questioned his greeting President Joe Biden the day before as he landed in the state and deplaned from Air Force One.

Biden was in Utah to commemorate the anniversary of the PACT Act, bipartisan legislation to boost care for veterans, and Cox called out those critics in remarks ahead of Biden’s address.

“Anytime we get the opportunity to have a president of either party in our state, we appreciate this amazing opportunity that we have to collaborate to work closely together, to push back on policies with which we disagree and to find areas of common ground,” Cox said.

“There has been some question over whether or not the governor of the state of Utah would welcome the president of a different party. I think it’s insane that we are having those conversations in our country today,” he continued, adding:

I so appreciate my blue state partners, governors who welcome President Trump. And we welcome President Biden here. We honor this office of the presidency. When the president succeeds, America succeeds, and we want to find ways to work together. We also do want to push back when we disagree. And I think we’ve gotten really good at that part. But we need to remember the we need to remember the other part of that equation that makes us so proud to be Americans.

Utah has long been a rare deep red state to not fully embrace the politics of former President Donald Trump. In a June poll of the 2024 GOP primary Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were effectively tied with 27 and 26 percent of the vote – respectively. The Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll showed former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in third place with 7 percent, despite not announcing any intention to run.

Watch the clip above via Emel Akan.

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