Utah governor slams Bannon as ‘conflict entrepreneur,’ urges calm after Kirk shooting

Utah Governor Spencer Cox has fired back at “conflict entrepreneur” Steve Bannon after his calls to tone down harmful rhetoric following the murder of Charlie Kirk were dismissed. Last week, Bannon branded Cox a “national embarrassment” after the governor urged people to switch off from social media and avoid “disinformation” following the shooting on Wednesday (10 September). Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday (14 September), Cox appeared to imply that Bannon was trying to “radicalize individuals”, saying that he himself is “not one of those people”. “That’s what I appreciate most about Charlie,” Cox added. “If we don’t keep talking, that’s when the violence starts.” Speaking of Bannon, he added: “But he is right at this: we need to find out how this happened, and we need to stop it from happening [again].”