Father of Aiden Clark Pleads with Donald Trump Jr. to Stop Using His Son’s Tragedy for Political Gain
Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
On Tuesday, Nathan Clark, the father of 11-year-old Aiden Clark, who tragically died in 2023 after a Haitian driver struck his school bus, publicly pleaded with former President Donald Trump and his family not to use his son’s death as a “political tool.” Despite this emotional appeal, Donald Trump Jr. continued to share posts on X (formerly Twitter) that indirectly referenced Aiden’s death.
Nathan Clark’s appeal came during a Springfield City Commission meeting, where he asked Trump and other politicians to refrain from exploiting his son’s death. However, on the same day, Donald Trump Jr. posted on X, sharing an article from the Daily Mail about the immigration status of Hermanio Joseph, the Haitian driver involved in Aiden’s accident. Trump Jr. commented, “Border Czar Kamala Harris imported nearly 4.5% of the total population of Haiti with zero vetting into our country, and these are the results.”
Trump Jr. escalated his rhetoric on September 12th by sharing the story of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, whose mother and prosecutors believe two undocumented immigrants were responsible for her murder. He further amplified his message by posting another story on Thursday from MxM News, a news aggregation app he promotes, claiming that Haitian immigrants were responsible for numerous vehicle accidents in Springfield.
This post followed the evacuation of two Springfield schools due to a threat warning, though no concrete evidence supported the claim of frequent accidents involving Haitian drivers. Despite these posts, Nathan Clark has consistently asked for his son’s memory to be left out of political debates. In a message to Trump Sr. on September 11, reported by USA Today, Nathan said, “Using Aiden as a political tool is, to say the least, reprehensible for any political purpose.”
He called out politicians like Bernie Moreno, Chip Roy, J.D. Vance, and Donald Trump, accusing them of exploiting his son’s death for political gain. “This needs to stop now,” Nathan stated. He emphasized that while politicians may spew hateful rhetoric about immigration and the border, they had no right to invoke his son’s name.
“Aiden had not been killed; he was accidentally murdered by an undocumented Haitian immigrant,” Nathan clarified. Donald Trump’s recent remarks during a debate with Kamala Harris added fuel to the controversy. Trump falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were “eating the dogs” and “eating the cats.”
According to Reuters, Haitian community leaders have expressed concern that such inflammatory statements could exacerbate tensions in Springfield, where thousands of Haitian immigrants have settled. Reports have surfaced that some Haitian families are keeping their children home from school due to racist comments on social media, and others have faced bullying and intimidation.
