WATCH: Utah’s GOP Governor Claims Charlie Kirk Said ‘Inflammatory Things’

Utah Governor Spencer Cox is under fire for claiming that Charlie Kirk said “inflammatory things” that contributed to the nation’s political climate just days after he was murdered by a far-left extremist while peacefully debating students on a college campus.

“I’m not saying we have to just sing kumbaya and hold hands. What I’m saying is we actually should disagree. I think Charlie represented that better than anyone. Charlie said some very inflammatory things, and in some corners of the web, that’s all people have heard,” the governor said.

It is unclear what Cox was referring to, though the far-left has taken a number of Kirk’s statements dramatically out of context in recent days. In one of the most widespread examples, leftists have claimed that Kirk said casualties of gun violence were “worth it.”

The claim hinges on a brief segment of a lengthy answer, in which Kirk pointed out that some levels of gun violence is inevitable, much like car accidents and disasters involving heavy machinery are inevitable. He also broke down the reality of gun crime — much of which is committed with illegal weapons — and more.

“But he also said some other things about forgiveness. He said some amazing things about when things get dark, putting down our phones, reading scripture, going to church, talking to our neighbors. He said that we have to engage, and that’s what I appreciate most about Charlie Kirk said if we don’t keep talking, that’s when the violence starts,” Cox added.

“Look, there are conflict entrepreneurs out there who benefit from radicalizing us, and I’m not one of those. I don’t know that that’s particularly helpful, but he is right at this. We need to find out how this happened, and we need to stop it from happening.”

Conservative activists expressed disappointment with the answer from the Utah governor, who has oftentimes drawn criticism from his right due to support for LGBT and gender ideology initiatives in the deep red state.

“Spencer Cox is again proving that Republicans are the stupid party. You would never hear a Democrat politician say something like this about one of their leaders,” said Newsmax host Chris Plante. “Charlie Kirk was right about him!”

Charlie Kirk was indeed critical of Cox on multiple occasions. After the governor opted to veto a ban on gender reassignment surgeries for minors in 2022, Kirk argued that he should be expelled from the Republican Party.