It’s always interesting to hear what out-of-staters think about Utah. Even though, seemingly more often than not, their impressions are negative.
So it’s jaw-dropping to hear the plaudits and praise from a Bloomberg News personality as he interviews Gov. Spencer Cox. If this 50-minute program was the only source of information about Utah, you’d think this is a state where Republicans and Democrats harmoniously govern and the state’s predominant religion “condones” gay marriage.
Wait. What?
“Breaking Bread with Alexander” host Alexander Heffner is nothing if not well-intentioned. Each episode of the Bloomberg Originals program features Heffner, perhaps best known as the host of “The Open Mind” on PBS, chatting with a politician about how America and Americans can aspire to be better.
“Today’s era of divisiveness calls upon us to summon courage to seek our better selves, forge new consensus, and break bread,” reads the intro.
The 10 episodes feature five Democrats and five Republicans, three U.S. senators and seven state governors — including Utah’s Cox.
Heffner praises Cox for his “different tone” on transgender issues, correctly pointing out that the governor hasn’t leaned into it as a wedge issue in the way many other Republicans have.
“It’s easy to use fear, divisiveness to get elected. … I just don’t believe in that,” Cox says. “I don’t believe that that’s helpful. Whether we agree or disagree, I think we can do so respectfully.”
That’s a continuing theme throughout the 50-minute program.
(Breaking Bread with Alexander) Alexander Heffner and Gov. Spencer Cox at Sara Thai Kitchen.
The two talk while walking around the Capitol grounds, and when they (at Cox’s suggestion) eat at Sara Thai Kitchen in Salt Lake City. The food looks great, and both Cox and Heffner repeatedly talk about how delicious it is.
It’s pretty informal and, at times, more of a conversation than an interview. Heffner doesn’t just want to hear what Cox has to say, he wants Cox to hear his opinions and pontifications. But there are times when you can’t help but wonder how much research Heffner did before the interview.
• Heffner is under the impression that Republicans and Democrats work together harmoniously in the state legislature, quoting a figure Cox provided that “80% of the laws” the governor signs “are bipartisan.” That, apparently, means that at least one Democrat voted for 80% of the bills that pass. He does not mention that the GOP has massive majorities in both houses — to his credit, Cox does — and that Democrats have relatively little influence.
• Cox says that “generally on LGBTQ issues, we’ve seen massive changes in hearts and minds. … This is all we’re looking for is that we treat each other with kindness and respect.”
There’s no pushback at all from Heffner, who doesn’t ask the governor why his 2023 Pride Month declaration didn’t even mention the LGBTQ+ community at all. His 2021 and 2022 declarations each mentioned “LGBTQ+” a half-dozen times, and declared June “LGBTQ+ Pride Month,” rather than just Pride Month.
• And Heffner clearly does not understand the ongoing tension between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the LGBTQ+ community. He makes this startling statement: “Last year, the Mormon Church was the first institution in the religious hierarchy to condone marriage equality.”
Leaving aside that other churches endorsed the Respect for Marriage Act — federal legislation to safeguard same-sex marriages — to say the LDS Church “condones marriage equality” doesn’t exactly ring true. What it condoned was gay couples’ right to get married, as long as it could continue to condemn the practice. The church backed the bill only because of its ”necessary protections for religious freedom.”
There is a good deal of discussion about religion. Heffner tells Cox that when he was in college, “the Mormon community was the friendliest.” Cox says, “I’m really glad to hear that,” and that he “likes to think” that’s characteristic of LDS. “Certainly, we aspire to that. We don’t always meet those aspirations.”
Cox acknowledges that Latter-day Saints are “predominant” in Utah “and we have to be careful that we’re not discriminating against others. … Any time we start to use our position of power, whether that’s religious power or political power, to put down and denigrate, undermine or put our authority on top of another group, that’s when we lose our footing. And there’s certainly a tendency to do that. And I think every religion, every political party, has to be careful about what we do when we’re in power.”
That’s refreshing, and it’s not the sort of thing we generally hear when political leaders are interviewed. That’s what makes “Breaking Bread” so likable, despite its faults.
What’s really unusual about Heffner’s show is that we so often see people go out of their way to make Utah look worse than it is, and Heffner goes out of his way to make Utah seem better than it is.
Gov. Spencer Cox’s appearance on “Breaking Bread with Alexander” airs Tuesday at 5 p.m. MDT on the Bloomberg Channel. It also starts streaming Tuesday on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg app, Roku, and Tubi.
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