Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) endorsed Donald Trump on Friday after saying last week he would endorse neither the former president nor Joe Biden.
During a press conference Friday morning, Cox said he would “do everything I can to help” Trump win the election and unite the country.
“My commitment to him was that I would help him try to lower the temperature in this country, and I sincerely hope — from what I’ve heard from people around him — that he’s committed to that,” Cox added.
Deseret News reported:
Just last week, Cox said he didn’t plan to vote for Trump. “I’m not going to vote for either presidential candidate this year,” Cox said during an appearance on CNN on July 10. Instead, he said, he planned to write in a candidate. Cox said he did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020.
In February, Cox said Republicans would be making “a huge mistake” if they nominated Trump as their presidential nominee.
The Utah governor has said he is not anti-Trump. He has admitted having “serious” issues with Trump, including the former president’s alleged role in the January 6 protests, after which Cox called on Trump to resign, believing it “would be good for the nation.”
Now, the Utah governor said that the attempted assassination of Trump changed his thinking.
At the press conference, Cox said that he wrote a letter to Trump after the assassination attempt. “I believe in our better angels, Mr. President, and I believe you are capable of being that kind of leader for this troubled nation. It is a huge burden to be placed on any person,” he quoted from the letter.
“In that moment you represented the best of America at one of our very worst times. Bloodied but not bowed. Courage — literally — under fire,” he wrote.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.