Ever since Donald Trump said Thursday that Willie Brown punched Vice President Kamala Harris during a horrific helicopter flight years ago, the former president has maintained that the story is true. Although former California Speaker Brown said he had never done business with Trump, let alone flown with him.
But it turns out another California official did too.
In an interview Saturday, longtime Los Angeles City Councilman and state senator Nate Holden vividly recalled the day in 1990 when he was invited by Trump to fly in a helicopter from Manhattan to Atlantic City.
Holden said it was noon and he had just had a drink when the hydraulic system suddenly failed, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in New Jersey.
In impromptu remarks to the media on Thursday, Trump said that he and Brown “went on a helicopter together to a location and made an emergency landing.” “It wasn’t a pleasant landing, Willie, and he was a little worried,” Trump said. “So I know him well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years. But he told me some terrible things.” [Harris]”.
Holden, 95, can’t believe Trump would confuse the two people — “a short black man from Northern California and a tall black man from Southern California. But as they say, we all look the same,” he laughs. explain.
The Trump campaign has not commented on what is at best a mistaken identity and, at worse, a fabricated story designed to smear Democratic presidential nominee Harris.
After Brown denied that he had never been on the helicopter with Trump, domestic and foreign media reported the incident. Trump not only stood by his statement, but also posted on social media that he had “logs, maintenance records and witnesses” to back up his claims.
But the other person on the helicopter was Barbara Res, a former top executive in charge of construction and development at the Trump Organization. In his 2013 book “Alone on the 68th Floor,” Reis essentially corroborated Holden’s version of what happened.
“As we landed over the Hudson River, the helicopter began to shake,” she wrote. “Shortly thereafter, the pilot told us he had lost some instruments and that we needed to make an emergency landing. By this time, the helicopter was shaking violently. Donald loved to tell the story about Nate, an African American, who turned white, but I remembered that Donald himself was white.
Holden said Saturday that he called Brown shortly after seeing Trump’s comments about the helicopter incident on television. “I just think there’s something wrong with Donald Trump. He almost had two fatal accidents, one with Willie Brown and one with me,” Holden said. So he asked Brown: “Willie, did the helicopter you were riding in with Trump almost crash?”
Holden joined Trump in a helicopter ride to discuss a Manhattan developer’s desire to build on the site of the historic Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles’ Central Wilshire neighborhood. Horton represented the district at the time.
Reiss said in the interview that Trump “wanted to meet Nate because Nate is very, very influential,” noting that she brought Holden to New York. “When we went to the meeting, Donald said, ‘I can’t, I have to go to Atlantic City. Let’s have the meeting on a helicopter.’ (Trump’s project on the Wilshire site was mired in litigation and never came to fruition.) .)
Holden said he knew Trump was trying to impress him. On the plane, Holden recalled, “Trump said, ‘Look at the skyline. It’s the best in the world.’
But Holden was unimpressed and said he became angry when the plane had mechanical problems. “I can’t believe they don’t maintain their helicopters. I’m angry because they put my life in danger. Just a year ago in 1989, a helicopter crashed in Fork River, New Jersey, and Trump Three casino executives and two others were killed.
As for Trump, Holden said: “He was speechless. He was as white as snow and glued to his seat.
“I didn’t detect any real signs of danger,” Reis said. “Trump is scared. He’s not scared anymore,” Reis said. “He just lost three executives on a flight that he said he was scheduled to take, which of course he was never scheduled to take. But, you know, why not take advantage of three very good employees.
Lacey and Holden similarly said Trump told his own version of what happened on the helicopter with Holden.
“Trump knows Willie Brown is the speaker and Nate Holden is the congressman, so he wants to make this more important,” Reiss said. “Also, he wants to make comments about Harris that I don’t think you can Harris connects with Holden.”
“It makes the story more interesting,” Holden said.
