Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. was in Utah on Wednesday. He spoke about the presidential race and Utah’s economy.
Huntsman attended a lunch celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the World Trade Center Utah, which he helped create. He told reporters that despite stock market troubles and division in domestic politics, Utah functions well and has one of the nation’s healthiest economies.
“You look at what this community is able to do when they set a goal and bring people together around that goal,” he says. “It’s unlike any community I think I’ve ever seen. People are lucky to be here.”
Huntsman heads the bipartisan national organization No Labels. It’s a group that asks presidential candidates to pledge, if elected, to work together with congressional leaders from both parties on at least one major issue within 30 days of taking office. Huntsman says so far several candidates have taken that pledge, including Donald Trump, whom many people see as divisive.
“I suspect that a lot of that language is going to change as he moves on beyond the SEC primary states. It’ll have to for him to broaden his base and to bring more people on board,” he says.
Huntsman, a Republican, says he hasn’t endorsed any candidate yet but would support his party’s nominee. The 2012 presidential candidate wouldn’t say whether he’d consider another run for the White House.