The governor was speaking in the aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and he said that he’d been unnerved by the fact that the suspected killer, Tyler Robinson, had grown up in a Mormon family in Southern Utah. Coppins says it had a “shattering effect” on the governor, who’d been pinning his hopes on Utah being an outlier—a place of civility in a country growing more polarized. Cox had prayed that Kirk’s assassin “wouldn’t be one of us.” But, it seems, that prayer went unanswered. We’re talking about what that means.
GUESTS –
McKay Coppins | He’s a staff writer at The Atlantic. His latest piece is called “Trump Has a Warning for Spencer Cox.”
George Grylls | Washington correspondent for The London Times. His story is “The moment Tyler Robinson’s dad turned him in as a suspected assassin.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Tyler Robinson's parents turned to a Latter-day Saint bishop for advice about their son. At a press conference on Wednesday, Washington County Sheriff Nate Brooksby said that wasn't the case.
Airdate: Thurs., Sept. 18, 2025.