- Ohio dad tells Trump to stop using son’s death for ‘political gain’
- Trump and Vance keep repeating lies that Aiden Clark was ‘murdered by an immigrant’
- The pair also circulated unfounded claims that Haitian immigrants have been eating pets in the area
- “My son was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti”.
Ohio dad tells Trump to stop using son’s death for ‘political gain’
An Ohio father is calling on former President Donald Trump to stop using his son’s death in a school bus accident for political purposes. Aiden Clark, 11, tragically died in an August 2023 bus crash in Springfield, Ohio, a town now thrust into the spotlight due to misleading claims from Trump’s campaign.
Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, added to the controversy on Tuesday by mentioning Aiden in a post on Twitter/X, falsely claiming that “a child was murdered by a Haitian migrant.”
Aiden’s father, Nathan, said in a city commission meeting later the same day that the message had reopened wounds: “They have spoken my son’s name and used his death for political gain. This needs to stop now.”
“My son was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti,” he continued.
“This tragedy has felt all over this community, the state and even the nation. But don’t spin this towards hate.”
In addition to these comments, Trump and Vance have circulated unfounded claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, alleging that they have been eating pets in the area. Just hours after Aiden’s father publicly urged Trump to stop using his son’s death for “political gain,” Trump repeated the baseless accusations during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.