Trump tells wild flying anecdote - all involved disagree
Trump recounts a near-miss with a helicopter, claiming to have experienced it with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown. However, this version of the story appears to be false. The presidential candidate seems to have mixed up some details.
Once again, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has confused with a story that doesn't hold up to fact-checking. At a press conference last Thursday, the 78-year-old recounted a helicopter flight he claimed to have taken with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, during which both nearly died.
What exactly happened on the alleged flight remains unclear. "I crashed with him in a helicopter," Trump initially told journalists about his supposed trip with Willie Brown. "We thought that was it." Then he said the helicopter had to make an emergency landing. Additionally, Trump claimed that Brown told him "horrible things" about Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during the flight. Brown was briefly in a relationship with Harris around 30 years ago.
Immediately after the press conference on Thursday, Willie Brown told the "San Francisco Chronicle" that he had never been in a helicopter with Trump and had never spoken ill of Harris. "You know me well enough to know that you would have heard about it if I had almost crashed in a helicopter with someone," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Trump insists on version of the story
Instead, it seems likely that Trump has confused two influential California politicians. In 2018, during his presidency, Trump flew over the fire-ravaged parts of California by helicopter - together with then-California governor Jerry Brown, as reported by NBC News. However, according to a representative of Brown who was also on the flight, there were no disturbances or emergency landings. Harris was also not a topic of conversation, according to the "New York Times".
Instead, Trump's stories could be referring to a flight from 1990. Nate Holten, who was also a politician in California, told "Politico" that he took a helicopter flight with Trump to New Jersey at the time, which was indeed turbulent. Some equipment in the machine had failed, and there was almost a crash.
Despite contradictory statements, Trump insists on his story on his platform "Truth Social", claiming that he nearly crashed with Willie Brown in a helicopter in New Jersey, not California. He claims there are "records", "maintenance records", and "witnesses". However, Trump does not provide any further evidence or proof for his claims. Nevertheless, he is likely to sue the "New York Times" for their reporting on his helicopter story.
The United States of America served as the location for several controversial helicopter stories involving former Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Despite denials from former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown and other witnesses, Trump maintains that they had a near-miss in a helicopter in New Jersey, asserting the existence of relevant records to support his claims.
