During a rambling news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, former President Donald Trump leveled his usual attacks against his political opponents but also shared a wild anecdote about nearly dying in a helicopter crash with Vice President Kamala Harris’s former beau, California politician Willie Brown.
As Trump told it, the pair were on a helicopter that had to do an emergency landing. His tale also included the convenient detail that Brown, former speaker of the California State Assembly, trash-talked his ex-girlfriend, Harris, some three decades after they stopped dating.
Nothing Trump said is true, according to an investigation by The New York Times.
The first problem: It was Jerry Brown, the former governor of California, and not Willie Brown on the helicopter.
Jerry Brown, who left office in 2019 looks nothing like Willie Brown, who served as mayor of San Francisco from 1996 to 2004; the former is white while the latter is Black.
Speaking to the Times, Willie Brown said there was no chance Trump was telling the truth: “You know me well enough to know that if I almost went down in a helicopter with anybody, you would have heard about it!”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Trump appeared to mix up his politicians, while also lying about what happened on the helicopter.
“I call complete B.S.,” Newsom said. “I was on a helicopter with Jerry Brown and Trump, and it didn’t go down."
Newsom said he rode with Trump in a helicopter when the former president came to California to look at damage from the 2018 Camp Fire. He confirmed, contra Trump, that there was never an emergency landing nor any risk of a crash. However, the former president did repeatedly bring up the possibility of a crash, according to Newsom.
Jerry Brown also denied the story through a spokesperson: “There was no emergency landing and no discussion of Kamala Harris.”
Trump told the false story during a rambling and at times incoherent press conference. When a reporter asked if he was aware of Kamala Harris' previous relationship with Willie Brown, he claimed to have had a close relationship himself with the 90-year-old politician.
“Well, I know Willie Brown very well,” Trump responded. “In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him.”
“We thought maybe this was the end,” the former president continued. “We were in a helicopter, going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing. This was not a pleasant landing. And Willie was — he was a little concerned. So I know him, but I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years. But he told me terrible things about her."
