They are two governors who could not be more different. One is a Republican Mormon from Utah; the other a Democratic Jew from Pennsylvania.
But Govs. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) and Spencer Cox (R-Utah) have spoken out against political violence they have both experienced in their backyard and are warning Americans of increasing political violence, per The Hill.
“We — a Republican and a Democrat, a Morman, a Jew — we need you now more than ever,” Cox said at a bipartisan event in the Washington National Cathedral.
“This country, if we’re going to make it another 250 years — if we’re going to make it another 2.5 years, we — we desperately need you tonight to lay down your swords and to treat each other with dignity and respect again,” Cox said.
Protesters interrupted several times, but the two held steadfast in their message.
Shapiro is considered to be a 2028 presidential contender.
Both Cox and Shapiro have experienced political violence. has also touched both men.
The governor’s mansion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was the target of an arsonist while Shapiro and his family were inside in April.
Cox’s Utah was the scene of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in September.
Cox told the crowd that first person to call him after Kirk’s assassination was Shapiro, who gave “some advice that changed what I was going to say when I stepped in front of that camera for the first time.”
Both talked about their experiences and said both parties needed to do more to curb the violence.
“We need to begin by saying that all leaders must condemn all political violence, not cherry pick which violence to condemn and which violence to accept,” Shapiro said. “Leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity and call it out wherever they see it, exactly the way Spencer Cox does.”
Shapiro also criticized Trump, stating the country can not look to him for morality clarity.
“We have a president of the United States right now that fails that test on a daily basis,” the Pennsylvania governor said.
The two men also spoke about the role of social media has played.
Cox suggested phones l be banned from schools; Shapiro spoke in favor of better education for adolescents on how to use social media responsibly.
Earlier this year, former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were assassinated by a gunman.
Last year, Trump was the target of two assassination attempts.
Both governors said that unity within the country isn’t as elusive as people think.
“There is more that binds us as Americans, than divides us,” Shapiro said. “The answers to so much of the darkness that we see in America today is the light that ordinary Americans bring each day, oftentimes grounded in faith and in our shared humanity.”
