American president Barack Obama told the husband of tragic MP Jo Cox that the world is a better place “because of her selfless service to others”.
Mr Obama telephoned Brendan Cox from his Air Force One plane while touring across several US national parks with his family.
He described the fatal attack on the 41-year-old politician as a “heinous crime” for which there was “no justification”.
During the emotional conversation, the President offered Mr Cox condolences on behalf of the American people.
Mrs Cox had worked on Mr Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, taking part in events in North Carolina.
The White House later released a statement, outlining the discussion.
A spokesman said: “President Obama offered his sincere condolences on behalf of the American people to Mr Cox and his two young children, as well as to her friends, colleagues and constituents.
“The President noted that the world is a better place because of her selfless service to others, and that there can be no justification for this heinous crime, which robbed a family, a community, and a nation of a dedicated wife, mother, and public servant.”
The MP for Batley and Spen, in Yorkshire, was shot and stabbed in the street outside her constituency surgery in Birstall on Thursday.
Yesterday, Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said she was “horrified” by the killing and called the Labour MP a “rising star”.
Mrs Clinton said: “It is cruel and terrible that her life was cut short by a violent act of political intolerance.
“This is how we must honour Jo Cox – by rejecting bigotry in all its forms, and instead embracing, as she always did, everything that binds us together.”
