When describing what he described as a near-death experience, former President Donald Trump on Thursday seemed to be confusing former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown with former California Governor Jerry Brown.
When asked if he thought Vice President Kamala Harris’s relationship with the former mayor had influenced her career path, Trump responded by saying he once flew with Willie Brown in a helicopter that “went down” during a news conference from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
“To be exact, I crashed into a helicopter with him. Perhaps this is the end, we thought. There was an emergency landing while we were traveling together in a helicopter. Willie was a little apprehensive since this was not a good landing, according to Trump. I am therefore familiar with him. I’m fairly familiar with him.”
Willie Brown, a former San Francisco date of Harris, refuted certain portions of Trump’s story in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle following the press conference.
The publication quoted him as saying, “If I had gone down in a helicopter with Trump, you would have known.” “Trump and I have never flown in a helicopter together.”
In 2018, Trump visited Paradise, California, a hamlet devastated by wildfires, in a helicopter with Jerry Brown and his successor, then-governor-elect Gavin Newsom.
Trump’s version of the helicopter flight was refuted by a Jerry Brown spokesman, who stated, “There was no talk about Kamala Harris, nor was there an emergency landing.”
Although there was no emergency landing and they were not in danger, a representative for Newsom told NBC News that Newsom was in the chopper. In remarks to The New York Times, the governor and previous governor first refuted Trump’s account.
At the press conference on Thursday, Trump further asserted that Brown was “not a fan of hers very much at that point” and that Brown had told him “terrible things about” Harris.
Brown denied having made disparaging statements about Harris in an interview with the Chronicle.
“No, that’s not accurate at all,” he replied to the reporter.
When NBC News asked Willie Brown for comment, he didn’t reply.
When NBC News contacted the Trump campaign’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, he declined to comment when asked if Trump had misled the two Democrats from California, only stating, “slick Willie has shared a number of fascinating anecdotes regarding Kamala Harris.”
Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for the Trump campaign, told Newsmax that she would simply direct readers to the president’s statement when they inquired about the alleged mix-up on Friday. He has many incredible life stories to share.”