Republican Governor Says He Won't Vote for Donald Trump

Utah's Republican Governor Spencer Cox has said he won't vote for Donald Trump in November and will instead "write somebody in."

The governor made the comments on Wednesday during an interview with CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

The Context

Trump became the presumptive Republican presidential candidate in March after seeing a number of GOP challengers, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, exit the race.

However, the former president remains controversial within his own party, with opponents focusing on his actions around the January 6, 2021, Capitol Hill riot and his status as a convicted felon.

In May, Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records which prosecutors said he did to cover up the payment of hush money to a former pornographic actress ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump branded the verdict "a disgrace" and is expected to appeal. The Republican is also facing felony charges over claims he mishandled classified documents and broke the law attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, both nationwide and in the state of Georgia specifically. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts and denies any wrongdoing.

What We Know

Referring to Republican voters, Cox said: "They chose a candidate this time around that was not my first choice, wasn't my choice last time either, but the party's spoken and that's why they have chosen so I've said I'm not going to vote for either presidential candidate this year, I'll write somebody in as I've done in the past."

Cox focused specifically on the January 6 Capitol riot, when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed Congress in a bid to stop the 2020 presidential election being certified, when discussing his fears regarding Trump. He said: "I've said before I haven't voted for the top of the ticket since 2012. I've certainly had my concerns one of those is what happened on January 6."

However, Cox insisted that, despite his personal decision not to vote for Trump, he does want to see the presumptive Republican nominee and wider party "succeed." He said: "But I do want Donald Trump to succeed. I want my party to win, we desperately need the right people in the right positions. I'm very anxious about who he picks as vice president."

A clip from Cox's interview in which the governor said he wouldn't vote for Trump was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by the Acyn account, where it was viewed more than 430,000 times.

Newsweek contacted the office of Governor Spencer Cox and Donald Trump's 2024 presidential election campaign for comment by email on Thursday outside of usual business hours.

Trump and President Joe Biden had their first presidential debate on June 27 in Atlanta, during which the 81-year-old incumbent at several points appeared to lose his train of thought, sparking renewed concerns about his age and cognitive state.

In the immediate aftermath, the odds on Trump winning the 2024 presidential election increased from 8/13 (61.9 percent) to 4/7 (63.6 percent) according to U.K. based bookmaker Betfair, while Biden's odds declined even more sharply.

In response, a number of prominent Democrats, including members of Congress, have called on Biden to pull out of the race and they were joined on Wednesday by Hollywood star George Clooney.

Biden has insisted he will remain in the race and attributed his performance during the June 27 debate to jetlag.

Speaking to Newsweek, Mark Shanahan, an expert in American politics who teaches at the University of Surrey in the U.K., said Biden is now "undoubtedly" the Democratic candidate Trump "would like to face" in November.