Gov. Cox gives Gridiron speech, and it turns out he’s pretty funny

Utah’s Gov. Spencer Cox reportedly brought the house down with his speech at the Gridiron Club dinner Saturday night, where he poked fun at himself, his party, Biden and the Democrats — and Utah.

“This year’s Republican speaker, Cox, was a perfect fit for the usual fare of self-effacing Gridiron jokes, playing the part of the naive rube who suddenly finds himself in tails and a white bow tie,” a Washington Post reporter wrote.

The Post said attendees at the annual dinner responded with “laughter and cheers and applause,” on top of a little table pounding. “When he was done, Biden was one of the first on his feet for the standing O.”

The Gridiron Club is a journalistic organization in Washington, D.C., with national media outlets and correspondents as members. It hosts an annual white tie dinner — a tradition that started in the 1880s — where politicians and journalists roast themselves and one another.

Cox as designated Republican speaker at Gridiron 

Cox was the designated Republican speaker at this year’s Gridiron dinner. Other speakers included President Joe Biden and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. Dan Balz, a correspondent for The Washington Post and Gridiron Club president, also attended.

Cox started his speech by joking about being a stand-in for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“You probably have no idea who I am. You see, I was the second choice for tonight’s Republican speaker. But don’t worry; my friends call me, ‘Discount Glenn Youngkin.’ Gov. Youngkin is 6′5″, handsome, played college basketball, went to Harvard, and is worth $300 million. So we’re basically twins. In a Schwarzenegger/DeVito sort of way,” he said.

Later, after joking about how much it would cost to pay a speechwriter for the night’s event — including a dig at “Bidenomics” — Cox said, “I apologize that you’re stuck with me writing my own material. The good news is that I practiced all my jokes in Utah, in front of sober people, so I should be much funnier tonight.”

There’s much more to Suzanne Bates’s story at Deseret.com.