Nate Holden, a former Los Angeles city council member and California State senator representing L.A., gave an exclusive interview to Politico on Aug. 9 about his memory of a helicopter ride with former President Donald Trump that nearly turned tragic.
According to Politico, Holden indicated that Trump confused him with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown despite Holden repeatedly asserting that he was not Brown.
According to Holden, he told Trump, “Willie is the short Black guy living in San Francisco. I’m a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles.”
“I guess we all look alike,” the 95-year-old Holden wise-cracked to the outlet.
Holden said he was watching
Trump’s press conference on Aug. 8, where he again repeated that it was Brown on the helicopter. However, according to Barbara Res, a former executive vice president of construction and development for Trump Casinos who was also in the helicopter, it was undeniably Holden, not Brown.According to the Washington Post, Trump said during the press conference that he was on a helicopter ride with Brown, playing up their relationship in the process. They also reported that the press conference was riddled with misleading statements and lies and the latest evidence of Trump’s desire to disparage Vice President Harris, whether or not his assertions hold up to scrutiny.
“I
know Willie Brown very well,” Trump said. “In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this is the end. We were in a helicopter going to a certain location together and there was an emergency landing.”Trump also repeated his talking points that Brown had repeatedly bad-mouthed Harris, which Brown also denied. Brown told KRON4 that he “could not envision thinking of Kamala Harris in any negative way.”
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Brown forcefully denied Trump’s assertions.
“You would have known if I had gone down on a helicopter with Trump.”
Brown continued, saying he would never speak ill of any woman around Trump.
“Hell, no,” Brown said. “I wouldn’t say anything bad about any woman to him.”
Res agreed with Brown’s version of events, as she told Politico. “That’s the story, OK, no Willie Brown.”
According to Politico, Holden also spoke to Brown, “I said, ‘Willie, were you almost in a helicopter crash with Trump also?’ He said ‘No.’ I said, ‘I was the one, Willie,’” Holden said.
Holden continued, telling Politico, “He either mixed it up, or he made it up. This was just too big to overlook. This is a big one. Conflating Willie Brown and me? The press is searching for the real story and they didn’t get it. You did.”
According to CNN, Brown has also rejected Trump’s inclusion of him in his account, saying that Trump’s recollection is “obviously wrong,” and he told the outlet on a phone call, “I’ve never been in a helicopter with him in my life.”
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