Shinzo Abe, the former Prime Minister of Japan, was assassinated on Friday, and the American President Joe Biden wasted no time in shamelessly using his tragic death to fuel his gun control agenda.
“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,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House [1].
“I am stunned, outraged, and deeply saddened by the news that my friend Abe Shinzo, former Prime Minister of Japan, was shot and killed while campaigning,” Biden also said in his statement. He went on to say that he is sad that Abe was “engaged in the work of democracy” when he was shot and killed.
“He was a champion of the Alliance between our nations and the friendship between our people,” Biden said. “The longest serving Japanese Prime Minister, his vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific will endure. Above all, he 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 concluded his statement by saying that “the United States stands with Japan in this moment of grief. I send my deepest condolences to his family.”
Abe was fatally shot on Friday while delivering a campaign speech in Nara, Japan. He was 67 years-old. Former President Donald Trump released a statement of his own in which he demanded that Abe’s killer be dealt with “swiftly and harshly,” rather than using the assassination to fuel his own agenda, as Biden did.
Daily Mail [2] reported that Trump said that Abe’s assassination is “Really BAD NEWS FOR THE WORLD!” He went on to describe Abe as a “unifier like no other […] who loved and cherished his magnificent country,” adding that he will be “greatly missed” and was a “true friend of mine.”
Trump has been known to play golf with Abe in the past, and he even hosted him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He concluded his statement by saying that he will be praying for Abe and his family.
Former President Barack Obama also publicly paid tribute to Abe.
“I am shocked and saddened by the assassination of my friend and longtime partner Shinzo Abe in Japan. Former Prime Minister Abe was devoted to both the country he served and the extraordinary alliance between the United States and Japan,” he said.
“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,” Obama added. “Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan who are very much in our thoughts at this painful moment.”
There’s no doubt that this is an unspeakable tragedy, and please join us in saying a prayer for Abe’s family. Shame on Biden for wasting no time in using his death to fuel his own gun-grabbing agenda.