Cox

America’s already roiling debate around transgender rights sharply escalated in recent days after Charlie Kirk — one of the nation’s most prominent anti-transgender voices — was fatally shot by a suspect whose life and social circles have been meticulously scrutinized for any connection to the transgender community.

Taking over Kirk’s podcast Monday, top Trump administration officials suggested they are gearing up to avenge Kirk by waging war on left-leaning organizations broadly, despite law enforcement statements that the shooter is believed to have acted alone. Queer organizations took that as a direct threat.

Kirk railed against transgender rights in life, and just prior to being shot on a Utah college campus last week was answering a question about the alleged prevalence of transgender people among the nation’s mass shooters — an idea he had personally stoked, despite pushback from statistical researchers.

Those circumstances seemed to prime the resulting outrage among his conservative base to be hyper-focused on any transgender connection.

The connection was further stoked when the Wall Street Journal reported on a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report that suggested — seemingly erroneously — that etchings on bullet casings found with the rifle suspected as being used in the shooting included transgender “ideology.”

It was further inflamed when Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said that suspect Tyler Robinson’s roommate and romantic partner — who he said was “shocked” by the shooting and cooperating with authorities — is currently transitioning.

Leading conservative influencers, some with the ear of President Trump, have openly called for a retribution campaign against transgender people and the LGBTQ+ community more broadly. Laura Loomer called transgender people a “national security threat,” said their “movement needs to be classified as a terrorist organization IMMEDIATELY,” and said that Trump should make transitioning illegal.

LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, meanwhile, have condemned such generalizations and attacks on the community and warned that such rhetoric only increases the likelihood of more political violence — particularly against transgender people and others who have been demonized for years, including by Kirk.

“The obsession with tying trans people to shootings is vile & dangerous,” state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), one of California’s leading LGBTQ+ voices, wrote on social media. “First they try to say the shooter might be trans & WSJ amplifies that lie. Once that fell apart, they pivot to ‘he lived with a trans person.’ Even if true, who cares? It’s McCarthyism & truly disgusting.”

Many political leaders have called for calm, and for people to wait for the investigation into the suspect’s motivations before jumping to conclusions or casting blame. Cox has said that Robinson’s political ideology, different from that of his conservative family, appeared to be “part of” what drove him to shoot Kirk, but that the exact motivations for the crime remained unclear.

“We’re all drawing lots of conclusions on how someone like this could be radicalized,” Cox said on “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “Those are important questions for us to ask and important questions for us to answer.”

Searching for a connection

Officials were expected to release charging documents against Robinson on Tuesday that could contain more information about a motive. However, the debate has hardly waited.

Both the political right and left have searched for evidence connecting Robinson to their opposing political camp.

One of the first pieces of information to catch fire was the ATF reporting on the bullet etchings including transgender “ideology” — which turned out to be untrue, according to Cox’s later description of those etchings. That reporting immediately inspired condemnations of the entire transgender community.

“Seems like per capita the radical transgender movement has to be the most violent movement anywhere in the world,” the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. said in a Rumble livestream Thursday.

On Friday morning, President Trump said “vicious and horrible” people on the left were the only ones to blame for the political violence. “They want men in women’s sports, they want transgender for everyone,” he said on “Fox & Friends.”

Trump was asked Monday afternoon if he thought the suspect acted alone.

“I can tell you he didn’t work alone on the internet because it seems that he became radicalized on the internet,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “And he was radicalized on the left, he is a left. A lot of problems with the left and they get protected and they shouldn’t be protected.”

The ATF declined to comment on the leaked report. The Wall Street Journal published an editor’s note walking back its reporting, noting that Cox’s description of the etchings included no references to the transgender community.

The Human Rights Campaign, a leading LGBTQ+ advocacy group, responded to the uproar by criticizing the Wall Street Journal for publishing unsubstantiated claims that fueled hateful rhetoric toward the transgender community.

“This reporting was reckless and irresponsible, and it led to a wave of threats against the trans community from right-wing influencers — and a resulting wave of terror for a community that is already living in fear,” the group said.

Spreading the narrative

The debate has heightened existing tensions around transgender rights, which Trump campaigned against and targeted with one of his first official acts — an executive order that said his administration would recognize only “two genders, male and female.”

He and his administration have since banned transgender people from military service, blocked the issuance of U.S. passports with the gender-neutral X marker, threatened medical providers of gender-affirming care for minors, and sued California for allowing transgender athletes to compete in youth sports.

In September, the Department of Justice also reportedly began weighing a rule that would restrict transgender individuals from owning firearms — a move that came after a shooter who identified as transgender killed two children and injured 18 others at a Catholic school in Minneapolis.

That shooting led prominent conservatives, including senior Trump administration officials, to link gender identity to violence. National security advisor Sebastian Gorka claimed that an “inordinately high” number of attacks have been linked to “individuals who are confused about their gender” — a trend he claimed stretched back to at least 2023, when a transgender suspect shot and killed three children and three adults at a Nashville Christian school.

After that shooting, Trump Jr. had said that “rather than talking about guns, we should be talking about lunatics pushing their gender-affirming bull— on our kids,” and Vice President JD Vance, then a senator, had said that “giving in” to ideas on transgender identities was “dangerous.”

After it was reported that Robinson’s partner is transitioning, Matt Walsh, a right-wing political commentator, wrote on X that “trans militants” pose a “very serious” threat to the country. Billionaire Elon Musk agreed, saying it was a “massive problem.”

Many in the LGBTQ+ community have strenuously pushed back against such claims, noting research showing most shootings are committed by cisgender men.

The Violence Prevention Project at Hamline University has found that the majority of shootings where four or more people were wounded in public were by men, and less than 1% of such shootings in the last decade were by transgender people.

An analysis by PolitiFact found that data do not show claims that transgender people are more prone to violence, and that “trans people are more likely to be victims of violence than their cisgender peers.”

A legacy amplified

Kirk espoused a Christian nationalist worldview and opposed LGBTQ+ rights broadly, including same-sex marriage. He called transgender people “perverted,” the acknowledgment of transgender identities “one of the most destructive social contagions in human history,” and gender-affirming care for young people an “unimaginable evil.”

Just before he was shot at Utah Valley University, Kirk had said that “too many” transgender people were involved in shootings.

It was not the first time Kirk had addressed the issue.

Days after the 2023 shooting in Nashville, Kirk went after then-White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre for unrelated comments denouncing a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in state houses and saying the transgender community was “under attack.”

“It is the first shooting ever that I’ve seen where the shooter and the murderers get more sympathy than the actual victims,” he said, appearing to blame all transgender people for the attack.

The idea that liberals generally or members of the LGBTQ+ community specifically should be held accountable for Kirk’s killing has gained momentum in the days since. Vance and Trump advisor Stephen Miller seemed to allude to reprisals against left-leaning groups on Kirk’s podcast Monday, with Miller saying federal agencies will be rooting out a “domestic terror movement” on the left in Kirk’s name.

LGBTQ+ advocates called such rhetoric alarming — and said they worry it will be used as a pretext for the administration to ramp up its assault on LGBTQ+ rights.

WASHINGTON — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said Sunday that investigators are not ready to discuss the motive behind the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. But he said the 22-year-old suspect had left-leaning political beliefs and disliked the conservative influencer.

“Clearly a leftist ideology,” Cox told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” On CNN’s “State of the Union,” he said, “That information comes from the people around him, his family members and friends.”

Cox said that Tyler Robinson, who was arrested last week, is “not cooperating” and that friends paint a picture of someone radicalized in the dark corners of the internet. “Clearly there was a lot of gaming going on,” Cox said on NBC. “Friends have confirmed that there was kind of that deep, dark internet, the Reddit culture, and these other dark places of the internet where this person was going deep.”

Cox, a Republican who has urged all partisans to tone down their rhetoric following the attack, added: “I really don’t have a dog in this fight. If this was a radicalized MAGA person, I’d be saying that as well.”

Cox stressed on several Sunday morning news shows, however, that investigators are still trying to pin down a motive for the attack on Kirk, a father of two and confidant of President Trump who was killed Wednesday while on one of his signature college speaking tours at Utah Valley University in Orem. The governor said more information may come out once Robinson appears in court Tuesday.

The governor said Robinson’s partner is transgender, which some politicians have pointed to as a sign the suspect was targeting Kirk for his anti-trans views. But authorities have not said whether it is relevant as they investigate Robinson’s motive.

“The roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female,” Cox said. “I can say that he has been incredibly cooperative, this partner has been very cooperative, had no idea that this was happening.”

Investigators have spoken to Robinson’s relatives and carried out a search warrant at his family’s home in Washington, Utah, about 240 miles southwest of Utah Valley University.

State records show Robinson is registered to vote but not affiliated with a political party and is listed as inactive, meaning he did not vote in the two most recent general elections. His parents are registered Republicans.

Ammunition found with the weapon used to kill Kirk was engraved with taunting, antifascist and meme-culture messages. Court records show that one bullet casing had the message, “Hey, fascist! Catch!”

Robinson grew up around St. George, in the southwestern corner of Utah between Las Vegas and natural landmarks including Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks.

He became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church, at a young age, church spokesperson Doug Andersen said.

Robinson has two younger brothers, and his parents have been married for about 25 years, according to social media posts. Online activity by Robinson’s mother reflects an active family that took vacations to Disneyland, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Alaska.

Like many in that part of Utah, they frequently spent time outdoors — boating, fishing, riding ATVs, zip-lining and target shooting. A 2017 post shows the family visiting a military facility and posing with assault rifles. A young Robinson is seen smiling as he grips the handles of a .50-caliber heavy machine gun.

A high school honor roll student who scored in the 99th percentile nationally on standardized tests, he was admitted to Utah State University in 2021 on a prestigious academic scholarship, according to a video of him reading his acceptance letter that was posted to a family member’s social media account.

But he attended for only one semester, according to the university. He is currently enrolled as a third-year student in the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College in St. George.

Riccardi and Boak write for the Associated Press and reported from Denver and Washington, respectively.

Spectacular fifties from Jordan Cox and Sam Curran fired Oval Invincibles to a thrilling six-wicket victory over Trent Rockets in a table-topping clash in The Hundred.

Cox hammered an unbeaten 58 from 32 balls and Curran struck 54 from 24, as the Invincibles hit a remarkable 103 runs from 28 deliveries to drive to victory with 11 balls to spare.

Opener Joe Root struck a season-best 76 as Rockets reached 171-7 and the visitors looked well-placed in their reply when they had their opponents 70-2 after 60 balls.

However, Cox and Curran launched a superb turnaround from that point, adding 51 from the next 10 legitimate deliveries.

The pair smashed six sixes and a four between them as they took 19 off David Willey and 32 from Sam Cook, who bowled the most expensive five-ball set in men’s Hundred history.

Curran reached his fifty from 22 balls, but fell before the close, caught on the ropes off Rehan Ahmed.

Cox pushed on, reaching his own half-century from 30 deliveries, guiding his side home alongside Donovan Ferreira and Sam Billings.

The win near guarantees Invincibles a play-off spot and offers further evidence as to why the two-time defending champions remain the team to beat in the men’s competition.

President Trump endorsed Republican John Cox for California governor on Friday, backing that could help Cox consolidate the GOP vote in the June primary and increase his chances to win a spot on the November ballot.

“California finally deserves a great Governor, one who understands borders, crime and lowering taxes. John Cox is the man — he’ll be the best Governor you’ve ever had,” the president tweeted Friday afternoon.

Cox, who did not vote for Trump for president in 2016, said he was “honored and deeply grateful” for the endorsement.

“I am looking forward to working with [the president] to make California great again,” said Cox, who alluded to potential support from Trump during a recent debate in San Jose, when he noted that he had recently visited the White House. “Like the President, I’m a businessman who knows how to get things done. We’re going to secure the border, empower California small businesses, lower taxes, and make our state affordable for everyone.”

Trump overwhelmingly lost California to Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Clinton received nearly 8.8 million votes in the state compared to Trump’s 4.5 million., But if Cox receives anything close to Trump’s support it should be more than enough to give him a second-place finish on June 5.

Trump’s endorsement of Cox is a major blow to GOP rival Travis Allen, an assemblyman from Huntington Beach and the favorite of many California conservatives. Both men failed to win the endorsement of the California Republican Party earlier this month, but Trump’s backing is arguably more powerful.

Allen supporters fumed over the president’s announcement, and said he had been misled.

“I’m angry. I’m angry at President Trump,” said Celeste Greig, a longtime conservative leader in the California GOP, who travelled to Washington, D.C., to attend Trump’s inauguration in 2017.

When she heard the news Friday, she promptly donated an additional $300 to Allen’s campaign.

“I love the president. I have supported him, but he’s made some misjudgements and this is one. He shouldn’t have done it, he shouldn’t. I will never, never support John Cox.”

Throughout the campaign, Allen has hammered Cox for supporting Libertarian Gary Johnson in the 2016 presidential race. Cox says he cast his ballot for the former New Mexico governor because, at the time, he didn’t trust that Trump was a true conservative. Cox has since said he regretted that vote because he has been pleased by Trump’s actions in office, including the tax overhaul, though he wishes the president would tweet less.

Allen voted for Trump and often boasts that he’s the only major candidate in the governor’s race to have done so. But Allen has struggled to raise funds for his campaign while Cox, a wealthy businessman from Rancho Santa Fe, has poured more than $4 million of his own money into his gubernatorial bid.

“The fact that Allen does not have the funds to compete makes this significant,” Republican political consultant Rob Stutzman said. “Allen can’t really counter it effectively.”

Stutzman, Greig and others suspect House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) may have encouraged the president to back Cox. Having a Republican on the top of the ticket in November — as opposed to two Democrats — could drive GOP voter turnout and help House Republicans in tight races that are key to the party holding on to control of Congress.

“The only reason for Donald Trump to tweet out support for a candidate for California is going to be House seats,” said Jon Fleischman, an influential conservative blogger from Orange County who plans to vote for Allen but said Trump’s endorsement helps Cox. “There is delicious irony in tweeting support for a candidate who was boasting about not voting for him.”

Attempts to reach McCarthy were unsuccessful on Friday.

But Allen told more than 400 supporters on a conference call Friday evening that the president’s endorsement would not hinder his chances, and said Trump wrongly “decided to listen to political advisors in the swamp, and Kevin McCarthy chief among them.”

“This does not stop us. This doesn’t even slow us down,” Allen said. “All this does is put a smile on our faces, because ladies and gentlemen, as God is my witness, my name is Travis Allen and I’m going to be the next governor of the state of California…. Not even the president of the United States is going to stop” that.

Democratic front-runner Gavin Newsom responded to Trump’s tweet by aligning Cox with the president, who is widely unpopular in California.

“No surprise you’re endorsing a candidate in your own image: one who attacks immigrants while opposing common sense gun laws and equal rights,” Newsom tweeted. “Time & time again, the people of California have rejected your brand of hate. The people of California will reject @TheRealJohnHCox too.”

Newsom’s campaign to be the state’s next governor will be much easier if he faces a Republican in the general election, rather than one of the other top Democrats in the race — a fact driving his strategy. No Republican candidate has won a statewide election in California since 2006, and Democrats have a 19% edge over the GOP in voter registration.

Under California’s top-two primary system, the two candidates who receive the most votes in the June 5 primary advance to the November election, regardless of party affiliation. The other top Democrats in the race include former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Treasurer John Chiang and former state schools chief Delaine Eastin.

Democrats and their allies have been spending millions of dollars to weigh in on Cox’s candidacy.

Newsom released an ad contrasting himself with Cox that notes Cox’s alignment with Trump on gun issues. The ad is being aired on broadcast television during programming popular with conservatives, including the “Roseanne” reboot, and will probably make Cox more appealing to GOP voters.

Meanwhile, backers of Villaraigosa — who is scrapping with Cox for the second spot in the primary — are airing an ad on Fox News and other stations that paints Cox as a Chicago carpetbagger and onetime Democrat who can’t win elections. While living in Illinois, Cox unsuccessfully ran for office multiple times.

During a testy televised debate earlier this month in San Jose, Newsom was asked whom he would prefer to face in the general election. The lieutenant governor quickly said he hoped to battle a Republican.

“A Republican would be ideal in the general election,” Newsom said with a grin, then glanced over at Cox and Allen. “Either one of these would do.”

“Be careful what you wish for, Gavin,” Cox said.

[email protected]; [email protected]

Twitter: @LATSeema, @philwillon

Updates on California politics

The proposed merger, which would create the largest cable provider in the US, could face antitrust hurdles.

Charter Communications has agreed to buy its rival Cox Communications for $21.9bn in a deal that would unite the two of the largest cable and broadband operators in the United States as they battle streaming giants and mobile carriers for customers.

The deal, announced on Friday, comes more than a decade after the companies reportedly abandoned an earlier merger attempt. Since then, pressure has intensified on cable companies, with wireless carriers attracting broadband customers with aggressive plans, while millions ditch traditional pay-TV for streaming.

The companies said they expect to realise $500m in cost savings within three years of the deal’s expected close in mid-2026.

Under the cash-and-stock deal, Charter will take on about $12.6bn of Cox’s net debt and other obligations, giving the transaction an enterprise value of $34.5bn.

Cox Enterprises, the family-owned parent of Cox Communications, will own about 23 percent of the merged entity, with its CEO Alex Taylor serving as chairman.

The combined firm will rebrand as Cox Communications within a year of the deal’s close, with Charter’s Spectrum being the consumer-facing brand. It will keep its headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, while maintaining a big presence at Cox’s campus in Atlanta, Georgia.

The merger with Cox – one of the biggest deals globally this year – will aid Charter’s push to bundle broadband and mobile services, helping it fend off competition from carriers.

Analysts have said Charter’s strategy of combining internet, TV and mobile services into a single, customizable package has shown merit, but it needs scale as cable firms rely on leasing network access from major carriers to offer mobile plans.

“This combination will augment our ability to innovate and provide high-quality, competitively priced products,” said Charter CEO Chris Winfrey, who will head the combined company.

The Spectrum-owner has a market value of nearly $60bn.

On Wall Street, Charter’s stock rose on the news of the potential merger. As of 12:00pm ET (16:00 GMT) the stock is up 1.66 percent since the market opened.

Antitrust concerns 

The merger will be among the first major tests of M&A regulation under the administration of US President Donald Trump, as it would create the largest US cable TV and broadband provider with about 38 million subscribers, surpassing current market leader Comcast.

It will likely be reviewed by the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division. Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, who leads the division, has made it clear she intends to focus on mergers that decrease competition in ways that harm consumers or workers.

EMarketer analyst Ross Benes said the merged entity would be the largest US pay-TV operator, but the “ISP (internet service provider) side of the business is more consequential” for consumers, potentially positioning it as a regional monopoly.

Winfrey echoed Trump’s “America First” employment priorities and said the deal would bring Cox’s customer service jobs back from overseas, but he did not specify how many. Charter’s customer service teams are already based entirely in the US.

“This is the first big corporate move (in the same sector) to happen under the new Trump administration so … will set the tone for other potential moves or not,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.

Charter and Cox had also discussed a merger in 2013 before shelving the plan, according to media reports. But speculation had risen again in recent months after cable billionaire John Malone said in November Charter should be allowed to merge with rivals such as Cox, shortly after Charter agreed to buy his Liberty Broadband.

Liberty Broadband shareholders will receive direct interest in Charter under the terms of the deal with Cox.

May 16 (UPI) — Charter Communications, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the United States, announced a merger Friday with privately held Cox Communications in a multi-billion-dollar deal.

Once the merger is completed, the new entity will retain the name of Atlanta-based Cox, a subsidiary of parent company Cox Enterprises, a private firm founded in 1898 that also has dealings in the automotive industry. Cox acquired its first cable franchise in 1962.

The deal gives Cox Communications a value of approximately $34.5 billion.

Charter Communications’ stock climbed sharply on the Nasdaq Composite at market open Friday before retreating somewhat. The company’s shares were up $7.03 or 1.68% at 10:42 a.m. EDT.

Under the terms of the deal, Connecticut-based Charter is acquiring all of Cox’s commercial fiber and managed IT and cloud businesses. Cox will also get $4 billion worth of cash and approximately $17.9 billion worth of combined shares, giving the parent company an approximately 23% ownership stake in the new venture.

The new company will remain headquartered in Stamford, Conn., and also assume an existing $12 billion worth of Cox Communications’ debt.

Prior to the deal, Charter was the largest cable operator in the United States, reaching over 32 million subscribers in 41 states. It was also the fifth-largest provider of residential phone lines.

Charter’s Spectrum brand will survive the merger and will “become the consumer-facing brand within the communities Cox serves.”

In 2017, Charter announced a partnership with Comcast Communications to share information about wireless services, a year after its $78.7 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable.

“Cox and Charter have been innovators in connectivity and entertainment services — with decades of work and hundreds of billions of dollars invested to build, upgrade, and expand our complementary regional networks to provide high-quality internet, video, voice and mobile services,” Charter President and CEO Chris Winfrey said in a jointly-issued statement.

“This combination will augment our ability to innovate and provide high-quality, competitively priced products, delivered with outstanding customer service, to millions of homes and businesses.

“We will continue to deliver high-value products that save American families money, and we’ll onshore jobs from overseas to create new, good-paying careers for U.S. employees that come with great benefits, career training and advancement, and retirement and ownership opportunities.”

Winfrey will retain both executive titles upon completion of the deal.

“Our family has always believed that investing for the long-term and staying committed to the best interests of our customers, employees and communities is the best recipe for success,” Cox Enterprises Chairman and CEO Alex Taylor said in the companies’ statement.

“In Charter, we’ve found the right partner at the right time and in the right position to take this commitment to a higher level than ever before, delivering an incredible outcome for our customers, employees, suppliers and the local communities we serve.”