Former President Donald Trump's harrowing tale of nearly dying in a helicopter crash with a former San Francisco mayor — who is also Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' former boyfriend — is a fairy tale, according to reporting from The New York Times.
Trump said at his news conference from Mar-a-Lago on Thursday that he and Willie Brown once flew in a helicopter together that had to make an emergency landing.
The tale came following a reporter's question about Harris' past relationship with Brown, and whether Trump felt that relationship helped her career.
“Well, I know Willie Brown very well,” Trump said in response. “In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this was the end."
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Trump added: “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,” Trump said. “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. But this is what you’re telling me, anyway, I guess. But he had a big part in what happened with Kamala. But he — he, I don’t know, maybe he’s changed his tune. But he — he was not a fan of hers very much, at that point.”
Brown, 90, however, denied having ever ridden a helicopter with Trump, and said he'd never nearly died during a helicopter flight.
"You know me well enough to know that if I almost went down in a helicopter with anybody, you would have heard about it," he told The New York Times on Thursday.
Brown also continues to support Harris, and said the two have "no hard feelings."
The Times reported that Trump actually shared a helicopter ride in 2018 with former California Gov. Jerry Brown and current Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Both Brown and Newsom said there was no emergency landing. Newsom said, with a laugh: “I call complete B.S."
