A California Democrat mentioned he believes Donald Trump confused him with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown after the previous president shared a wild story on Thursday a couple of helicopter journey with Brown that resulted in an “emergency landing.”
“Willie is the short Black guy living in San Francisco, I’m a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles,” mentioned Nate Holden, who served as a Los Angeles metropolis councilman and California state senator, in an interview with Politico on Friday.
“I guess we all look alike.”
Trump, in a rambling press convention at Mar-a-Lago, claimed he went “down in a helicopter” with Brown and thought it was “the end.” He added that it was “not a pleasant landing” and Brown was “a little concerned” on the time.
Holden, 95, has since revealed that Trump might have been considering of him all alongside.
Holden recalled getting involved with Trump, who was often known as a developer and businessman, within the Nineties as he was trying to renovate the Ambassador Resort in Los Angeles.
He met the now-Republican nominee at Trump Tower forward of a visit to Atlantic Metropolis to take a look at the Taj Mahal on line casino.
Holden was involved because the journey was “not long after” a helicopter crash killed a number of prime executives at Trump’s casinos in 1989, Politico famous, however Trump assured the California Democrat they’d be fantastic.
Former Trump Group govt Barbara Res, who was on the helicopter journey, instructed Politico that Holden was the person within the plane and pointed to her recollection of the incident in her 2013 guide.
Res wrote that she noticed the co-pilot “pumping a device with all his might” within the cockpit earlier than the pilot instructed passengers they needed to make an emergency touchdown.
“By now, the helicopter was shaking like crazy,” Res wrote.
The group finally touched down in Atlantic Metropolis and, as Res revealed to Politico, Trump used to joke that she “turned white” throughout the episode.
“He was white as snow,” mentioned Res of Trump. “And he was scared shitless.”
A Trump marketing campaign spokesperson, in a remark to Politico, mentioned the previous president referred to the helicopter story in his “Letters to Trump” guide final 12 months the place he claimed Brown — whose letter makes an look — was with him throughout an “emergency” touchdown.
The previous president took to his Fact Social platform late Friday and cited an article that refers to Brown, who wrote in a SFGate column again in 2013 that he remembers Trump as soon as sending a personal jet to Boston to select him up for lunch.
“He’s just angling for another ride in Trump’s jet (helicopter!). But now Willie doesn’t remember? No, he remembers!” Trump insisted.
Brown made no reference to an “emergency landing” when recalling the jet journey within the column.
Holden instructed Politico that he’s spoken with Brown since Trump’s telling of the helicopter story and famous that individuals on the journey weren’t essential of Vice President Kamala Harris because the Republican nominee claimed on Thursday.
Brown had dated Harris for roughly a 12 months within the mid-Nineties.
“He either mixed it up. Or, he made it up,” Holden mentioned of Trump.
