Utah Governor Spencer Cox on Thursday hit back at critics who have questioned why he, a Republican, would welcome President Joe Biden to his state rather than make a show of publicly snubbing the US chief executive over policy disagreements.
Mr Cox, who was among the official greeters who met Mr Biden as he disembarked from Air Force One on Wednesday, addressed the question of why he’d chosen to attend the president’s arrival when he spoke on Thursday ahead of Mr Biden at an event to mark the anniversary of the PACT Act, a piece of bipartisan veterans’ care legislation which the president signed into law last year.
Mr Cox said he’d welcomed him to the Beehive State on behalf of its more than three million residents.
“Anytime we get the opportunity to have a president of either party in our state, we appreciate this amazing opportunity that we have to collaborate to work closely together, to push back on policies with which we disagree and to find areas of common ground,” he said.
On the matter of “common ground,” Mr Cox noted that there had been “some question” from members of his own party over whether he would choose to officially welcome the president to his state, given that Mr Biden is a Democrat and he is not.
“I think it’s insane that we are having those conversations in our country,” said Mr Cox, who added that he appreciated the Democratic governors who’d welcomed Mr Biden’s GOP predecessor, Donald Trump, to their states during his four-year term, and noted that he was reciprocating with the same courtesy.
“We honour this office of the presidency. When the President succeeds, America succeeds and we want to find ways to work together. We also do want to push back when we disagree, and I think we’ve gotten really good at that part. But we need to remember the other part of that equation that makes us so proud to be Americans,” he said.
Turning to the subject of the legislation Mr Biden was in Utah to celebrate, Mr Cox acknowledged that the PACT Act, which was intended to compensate veterans who’ve had injuries tied to the use of burn pits during overseas service, has “special meaning” to the president, whose late son Beau died of brain cancer which he believes was caused by exposure to burn pit fumes in Iraq.
“Mr. President, we thank you for the sacrifice of you and your family. And we’re grateful to have you here honouring veterans in the Beehive State,” he said.
