Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Utah governor says he hopes Republican party can ‘turn the page’ on Trump in 2024

Six former or current governors have already announced their White House bids

Kelly Rissman
Monday 10 July 2023 13:31 EDT
Comments
'What the hell is a Blizzard?': Trump reveals he's never been to a Dairy Queen

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

When CBS News’ Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan asked Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox whether one of the many Republican governors running in the 2024 race could defeat Mr Trump in a primary election, Mr Cox said he hoped his party could move on from the former president.

“I hope so. I like governors. I think governors are great and have real experience. The great thing about governors is we have to get stuff done, right? We can’t just do the performance thing. … Potholes aren’t partisan. You have to do those kind of things,” Mr Cox said.

“And I think we have lots of amazing choices, and I’m really hopeful that we can turn the page and try something else. Someone who can win, which I think is important, and I think any of those governors could win and I certainly hope we’ll give them a chance,” he added.

Brennan was referring to former Arkansas Gov Asa Hutchinson, former South Carolina Gov Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov Doug Burgum, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, as well as Mike Pence, who served as Indiana governor before becoming Mr Trump’s vice president.

Gov Cox joins a number of prominent Republicans – perhaps none more so than former Attorney General Bill Barr – who are trying to distance themselves from the former president, who faces several ongoing lawsuits and criminal investigations.

Despite these legal challenges, Mr Trump remains the frontrunner in the polls for the 2024 race.

The former president leads in a crowded Republican field, which also includes Sen Tim Scott, former Texas congressman Will Hurd, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, conservative talk radio host Larry Elder and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in