PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With concerns over political violence reaching a fever pitch nationwide, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro joined Utah Gov. Spencer Cox for a discussion in Washington, D.C., about the matter and how both have navigated political violence in their own states.
Utah was put on the world stage in September when Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a college campus. Cox, a Republican, said the first advice he took was from Democrat Shapiro.
“He told me to speak with moral clarity and to speak from the heart,” he recalled.
Shapiro, like Cox, has also dealt with his fair share of political violence in recent years. Pennsylvania was the site of the 2024 assassination attempt of President Donald Trump, which Shapiro condemned. And in April, a suspected arsonist lit up the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg just after Shapiro’s family had celebrated the first night of Passover.
“The healing has come because of the goodness of the American people, the goodness of the people of Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro. “That’s put us in a position to not only get through it, but to feel stronger as a result of it, and prepare us for these kinds of conversations.”
When it comes to political violence, Shapiro said all leaders have a moral duty to condemn it, no matter the side of the political aisle. He called out Trump for cherry-picking.
“When you’re a president of the United States, you are looked to for that moral clarity. And we have a president of the United States right now that fails that on a daily basis,” he said.
Cox also took aim at social media companies for sowing the political divide for profit.
“If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at the social media companies,” he said. “These are the wealthiest and most powerful companies in the history of the world, and they’re profiting off of destroying our kids and destroying our country — and they know it.”