“Above all, [Abe] cared deeply about the Japanese people and dedicated his life to their service. Even at the moment he was attacked, he was engaged in the work of democracy,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House. “While there are many details that we do not yet know, we know that violent attacks are never acceptable and that gun violence always leaves a deep scar on the communities that are affected by it. The United States stands with Japan in this moment of grief. I send my deepest condolences to his family.”
Trump eulogized Abe in a pair of posts to Truth Social Friday morning, calling his death “a tremendous blow to the wonderful people of Japan.”
“Few people know what a great man and leader Shinzo Abe was, but history will teach them and be kind,” Trump wrote. “He was a unifier like no other, but above all, he was a man who loved and cherished his magnificent country.”
The former President also called for Abe’s assassin to be “dealt with swiftly and harshly.”
Obama on Friday said he was “shocked and saddened by the assassination of my friend and longtime partner.”
“Former Prime Minister Abe was devoted to both the country he served and the extraordinary alliance between the United States and Japan,” Obama wrote on Twitter. “I will always remember the work we did to strengthen our alliance, the moving experience of traveling to Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor together, and the grace he and his wife Akie Abe showed to me and Michelle.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Gabby Orr and Donald Judd contributed to this report.
