On Tuesday's Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough accused Donald Trump of using the death of an 11-year-old boy in Springfield, Ohio as a "political prop."

We'll present the facts, and ask you: who is using that tragic death as a political prop: Donald Trump, or Joe Scarborough and the New York Times?

As per this article, on August 22nd of this year:

"Hermanio Joseph, 36, a Haitian immigrant who did not have a valid driver’s license when he crossed over the center line into the oncoming lane on state Route 41, striking a Northwestern school bus with his 2010 Honda Odyssey. The bus flipped on its top."

Aiden Clark, aged 11, was killed, and dozens of other children on the bus were injured.

Joseph was one of about 20,000 Haitian migrants who have flooded into Springfield in recent times, radically transforming the life of the town. 

Among other things, there has been a rash of traffic accidents in the town. As per this article:

"Longtime residents say the immigrants are getting temporary driving permits without having to learn how to drive safely in the US — or even knowing how to drive at all. There must be eight to 10 accidents a day here,” one resident who asked not to be named told The Post. I’ve seen cars drive up into buildings and onto sidewalks. I believe everyone deserves help, but we shouldn’t be providing cars and licenses until people know how to drive here safely.”

Aiden wasn't the only Springfield resident to be killed by a Haitian immigrant driver. As per the New York Post article linked above, on December 1, 2023:

"A Haitian migrant ran over and killed a 71-year-old grandmother. She was struck so violently that both her socks were left behind on the pavement as her body was thrown across the street. Debris littered the roadway, and clumps of hair were found in the car’s cracked windshield."

For reasons that the prosecutors didn't disclose, the Haitian driver wasn't charged.

Hermanio Joseph was arrested and charged. He was convicted and sentenced to a prison term of 9.5-13 years for "first-degree felony involuntary manslaughter and fourth-degree felony vehicular homicide."

Scarborough accused Trump and JD Vance of using Aiden as a "political prop" because rather than saying that Joseph was convicted of "manslaughter" and "homicide," as he was, they said that Joseph committed "murder. "

One week before the election, the New York Times ran an article on Aiden's death. The subtitle: "After Aiden Clark was killed in a school bus accident in Springfield, Ohio, his death inspired conspiracy theories, campaign lies and  anti-immigrant hate."

Not only did the Times place the story on the front page, it devoted 5,300 words to it. That's the equivalent of about 20 book pages.

Today's Morning Joe devoted a segment to the matter. Mika Brzezinski held the front page story, with its photo of the grieving parents, up to the camera. Scarborough twice instructed her not to take it down: "Hold that up, Mika . . . Hold -- keep that up."

So you be the judge: who is using the death of Aiden Clark as a "political prop": Donald Trump, or Joe Scarborough and the New York Times?

Note: Scarborough analogized Trump's handling of the Springfield story to the situation in which Trump had accused Scarborough, during his days as a congressman, of having had an affair with an aide and being responsible for her death. Scarborough said that Trump persisted in his allegations even after the widowed husband of the woman asked him to desist because it was causing continuing grief for him and the woman's parents.

Scarborough introduced the matter by claiming that Trump's accusation "is not personal to me," but only to the woman's family. Raise your hand if you believe Scarborough. For that matter, wouldn't it be very strange if Scarborough didn't take being accused of adultery and homicide personally?

Here's the transcript.

MSNBC
Morning Joe
10/28/24
6:07 am EDT

MIKE BARNICLE: The front page of the New York Times today, back to Springfield, Ohio, has a story about the parents of Aiden Clark, an 11-year-old child, who died in a school bus accident when his school bus was hit by a Haitian immigrant who was here legally.

And both Donald Trump and JD Vance have decided to call it a murder. And they call this young boy's life and death a murder. And the torture that his parents have endured and been put through, since the incident occurred several months ago, is horrendous. It has changed and altered and damaged the lives of the living.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: This is them sitting with their little boy's blanket, Joe.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: And I, I, I -- hold that up, Mika.

I can't imagine the pain those parents are going through. And then to watch their son, their child, used as a political prop, to be lied about. Making the pain worse. 

And hold -- keep that up. 

Because this is not personal to me. But this is personal to people I know.

When Donald Trump decided to attack me because he didn't like my Covid coverage, and he lied about a woman who worked in my office, and claimed that we were involved, and, and that I had her killed.

And her husband, the widowed husband, begged him to stop lying because of the excruciating pain that it put her parents through and put him through. The fact that he had not been able to move on for 20 years, 25years, because of the lies. They could not, they could not find rest or peace. And Donald Trump didn't care. He just kept doing it.