Former President Trump said he and Willie Brown nearly crashed in a helicopter and that the former San Francisco mayor told him “terrible things” about Trump’s Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris.
Fake and fake, says Brown.
Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, conducted one meandering 65-minute press conference at Mar-a-Lago last Thursday where he insulted Harris, repeated false and misleading claims and spoke of the United States in apocalyptic terms.
He also recounted the story of being in a helicopter and facing danger with Brown.
“Well, I know Willie Brown very well. In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this is the end,” Trump said.
“We were in a helicopter going to a certain place together, and there was an emergency landing,” he said. “This wasn’t a nice landing, and Willie, he was—he was a little worried. So I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years. But he told me horrible things [Kamala Harris].”
Brown says Trump’s claims are untrue.
“I’ve never done business with Donald Trump, let’s start with that,” Brown told the Bay Area TV station CROWN. “And secondly, I don’t think I’d want to get on the same helicopter with him.”
He also denied that he disowned Harris in front of Trump.
“It’s just as accurate as any other component of what you’re asking me about,” Brown added San Francisco Chronicle. “No, not at all correct.”
Willie Brown told KRON that he “couldn’t imagine thinking about Kamala Harris in any negative way. She’s a good friend from a long time ago, absolutely beautiful woman, smart as hell, very successful, electorally.”
Brown dated Harris in the 1990s at the beginning of her career in San Francisco. The connection drew backlash against Harris from critics who said she was profiting politically from the relationship.
Brown did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment Thursday night.
Trump took a helicopter ride in 2018 — with another Brown. He went with then-Gov. Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom, governor-elect of California, to survey the devastation of the campfire in the town of Paradise. There was no news at the time of an emergency landing – although it was probably not “pleasant” to get off in the middle of the devastation.