Utah News Dispatch
Sinema and Cox’s economic ‘disruption’ speech takes on another meaning at Salt Lake event
A panel with former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute Director Natalie Gochnour was twice disrupted by hecklers on Jan. 16, 2026. (Alixel Cabrera/Utah News Dispatch)
When former Arizona independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was asked to describe the world’s current chapter in history during a Salt Lake City event, the question was almost unintelligible, obstructed by the yells of a heckler and the quick movement of security officers dragging him outside.
“Disruptive,” Sinema said, “and I promise I didn’t plan for that.”
A few minutes later, a second heckler appeared interrupting the session as well. Both of them yelled they were having affairs with Sinema, a nod to the news of a lawsuit filed against her for “alienation of affection” after being accused of having an affair with a former member of her security team.
Sinema, currently an adviser for a law and lobbying firm and for cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, was visiting Salt Lake City on Friday to speak on a panel about policy and partnerships with Gov. Spencer Cox and Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute Director Natalie Gochnour, part of the Utah Chamber and Gardner Institute’s Utah Economic Outlook and Public Policy Summit.
After the interruptions, Sinema continued her thoughts on what she described as “a period of incredible disruption,” especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence technologies.
“So AI is changing the way that we work and the way that we interact with each other. It will also change the way that we consider jobs,” she said. “Jobs will look different in the future, and there’s always a period of disruption. This has been true since the invention of electricity, right? Since the invention of the internet, right?”
The discussion followed the presentation of the annual Economic Report to the Governor from the Gardner Institute, which made projections of moderate economic expansion for the state throughout 2026.
The institute also projected 1.3% population growth in Utah from 2026 to 2027 — the same population growth calculated in 2025. That would outpace the national average, but at the same time, represents a slower rate than the state’s historical trend.
And while the state remains the youngest in the country, the population is aging, reports from the Gardner Institute say.
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One of Cox’s concerns, he said on Friday, is to be prepared “when that silver tsunami hits us,” but also, he worries about the decline of the state’s fertility rate.
“Our society is a pyramid scheme. It is, and it always has been, and that’s a very positive thing,” he said, prompting some laughs. “We need those next generations. Now that doesn’t even touch on our social safety nets and what happens when you don’t have the workers who are paying the taxes to deliver the social security that people are relying on to retire, we are screwed if we don’t have that.”
Sinema agreed with Cox, saying that if nothing changes at the federal level, by the time she and the governor reach retirement age, “there will be no social security.”
Cox had mostly kind words for business representatives who attended the summit. But, he finished his remarks warning that he was about to be blunt with them.
“You’ve abandoned us. You have. We do not see the business community on Capitol Hill like we did when I started this 10 years ago. It’s not even close,” he said. “Everybody just kind of does their thing, and they’ll complain about legislation, but they don’t show up.”
He urged them to also find other people to be at the Legislature if they are unhappy with its results.
“Some of you need to run for the Legislature, we need you. We desperately need you,” he said.
Sinema had a similar message, but for everyone in the country.
“If you don’t like the tone, if you don’t like the ugliness, if you think, ‘Gosh, this is distasteful,’ the thing we’ve got to remember is that we as Americans, we built this. This is us,” she said. “We created it, so we choose who we put in these positions. We choose who to reward, we choose who to punish.”
When asked about Utah’s culture and social cohesion, Sinema said that having spent a significant portion of her life in the state, she knows it’s “a very special place.”
“Utahns, with two notable exceptions today,” she said, “are just very generous, kind.”
