Pompeo: ‘The World Is Far Worse off Today Without Prime Minister Abe’

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reacted on Friday to the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Pompeo mourned Abe’s death and said he was “a dear friend of the United States.” He advised that the world was “far worse off today” without Abe.

“I’m heartbroken this morning — heartbroken for Prime Minister Abe and his family,” Pompeo told Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom.” “I’m praying for them and all of the Japanese people. He was relentless in putting them first, the Japanese people first, but a dear friend of the United States. He knew that a successful United States and a good relationship with us made things better for his own people.”

“I first met him … in 2015 after he had spoken to a joint session of Congress when I was a junior member of Congress from Kansas and then got to know him better as CIA director,” he continued. “And as we were pushing back on Chairman Kim in North Korea, Prime Minister Abe was our best partner in helping us deliver an outcome for the world to keep our country safer. He was a good friend. He and the president had a great relationship. He was always so kind to me. The world is far worse off today without Prime Minister Abe astride, helping us think about how we can deliver against the Chinese Communist Party and get good economic outcomes for the people of Japan and Asia, and, most importantly, we always knew he wanted it in America, too.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent