Former President Donald Trump appeared to embarrass the former mayor of San Francisco on Thursday Willie Brown With the former governor of California. Jerry Brown recounting what he characterized as a near-death experience.
Speaking at a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said he was flying with Willie Brown in a helicopter that “went down” when asked about Vice President Kamala Harris’ past relationship with the former mayor. and whether she felt the relationship had played a role in her career path.
“I actually landed in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this is the end. We were in a helicopter together going to a certain place and there was an emergency landing. This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was He was a little worried, Trump said. I know him well enough.”
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle after the press conference, Willie Brown, who dated Harris years ago in San Francisco, denied several aspects of Trump’s account.
“You would have known if I had gone in the helicopter with Trump,” he said, according to the newspaper. “I’ve never been in a helicopter with Trump.”
In 2018, Trump was in a helicopter with Jerry Brown and his successor, then-governor-elect. Gavin Newsomthe day they toured Paradise, California, a town ravaged by wildfires.
A representative for Jerry Brown did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday night. Newsom’s spokesman confirmed to NBC News that Newsom was in the helicopter, but said there was no emergency landing and that they were not in danger. The governor first denied Trump’s announcement in comments to The New York Times.
Trump also claimed during Thursday’s news conference that Willie Brown told him “terrible things” about Harris and that Brown “wasn’t a fan of his at that point.”
Brown denied badmouthing Harris in comments to the Chronicle.
“No, not exactly at all,” he told the paper.
Willie Brown did not respond to requests for comment from NBC News.
Reached for comment by NBC News, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung did not respond to questions about whether Trump had confused the two California Democrats, saying, “Slick Willie has been telling some interesting stories about Kamala Harris.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com