'Leave us alone': Aiden Clark's father urges Trump, Vance to stop using his son's death 'political gains'

The father of 11-year-old Aiden Clark, who was killed last year when a minivan driven by an immigrant from Haiti collided with his school bus, urged former US President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator JD Vance to stop using his son’s name for “political gain”. The comments from Clark’s father came during a city commission meeting on Tuesday in Springfield, Ohio.

Aiden’s father Nathan Clark was addressing the forum alongside his wife Danielle. “I wish that my son, Aiden Clark, was killed by a 60-year-old white man. I bet you never thought anyone would say something so blunt, but if that guy killed my 11-year-old son, the incessant group of hate-spewing people would leave us alone,” the father said as per the report by Springfield News-Sun. 

Nathan went on to call out the names of politicians including Trump and Vance, who have been using his son’s name for “political gains”. “Bernie Moreno [the Ohio Republican senate candidate], Chip Roy [the Texas Republican representative], JD Vance and Donald Trump … have spoken my son’s name and used his death for political gain. This needs to stop now. They can vomit all the hate they want about illegal immigrants, the border crisis and even untrue claims about fluffy pets being ravaged and eaten by community members. However, they are not allowed, nor have they ever been allowed, to mention Aiden Clark from Springfield, Ohio,” he explained.

“I will listen to them one more time to hear their apologies. To clear the air, my son, Aiden Clark, was not murdered. He was accidentally killed by an immigrant from Haiti. This tragedy has been all over this community, the state and even the nation. But don’t spin this towards hate,” he added.

Grieving father urges people to ‘stop the hate’

Nathan’s comments came after the Trump campaign mentioned Aiden’s death while propagating hateful and baseless rumours surrounding the Haitian immigrant community in the state. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Vance alluded to Aiden’s death when he said that a Haitian migrant murdered a “child."

In the same post, Trump’s VP pick also repeated falsehoods surrounding Haitian immigrants eating local pets – a rumour brought up again by Trump during Tuesday’s debate with Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, the Trump War Room, an X account used by the Trump campaign also claimed that Vice President and Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris is refusing to take Aiden’s name.

“Did you know that one of the worst feelings in the world is to not be able to protect your child? Even worse, we can’t protect his memory when he’s gone. Please stop the hate," the father averred. In a statement to NBC News, following Clark’s remark, a spokesperson from Vance’s team said that people should hold Harris “and her open border policies accountable for the deaths of their children”. “The Clark family is in Senator Vance’s prayers," the spokesperson furthered.