Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Your Retire Invest

Editor's Pick

Trump reiterates claim about helicopter trip but doesn’t provide records

Former president Donald Trump insisted again Friday that he took a dangerous helicopter ride with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, telling the New York Times that he would release flight records.

Trump, who did not release the records, told reporters at a news conference Thursday that he had ridden in a helicopter with Brown, who dated Vice President Kamala Harris 25 years ago, claiming that Brown had criticized her during the flight.

Brown, who is Black, called Trump’s story “fiction.” Former California governor Jerry Brown, who is White, and the state’s current governor, Gavin Newsom, said they rode in a helicopter with Trump to survey the fire-devastated town of Paradise, Calif., in 2018, but they said Harris was not a topic of conversation and the landing was uneventful.

And late Friday night, Politico reported that Nate Holden, who is Black — a former Los Angeles council member who grew close to Trump when he tried to renovate the historic Ambassador Hotel in the 1990s — said he was the one in a helicopter with Trump when it almost crashed.

Trump claimed in the Times interview that he had “flight records of the helicopter” showing he was with Willie Brown and that he would release the records. The Times reported Trump said he was “probably going to sue” the news organization, according to an article written by longtime Trump reporter Maggie Haberman, and he responded mockingly to a request for the flight records by repeating it in a “singsong” voice.

The Times reported that Trump did not provide the records Friday night. His campaign also did not immediately respond to a request from The Washington Post for the helicopter records.

Trump’s dubious account comes less than a month after President Joe Biden, 81, left the presidential race amid concerns over his acuity after a damaging debate performance in June. Trump, 78, told more than 30,000 lies or falsehoods during his presidency and in recent weeks has lashed out as Harris, who is challenging him for the presidency, and who has drawn large crowds and enthusiasm among Democrats.

Trump made the angry call to the Times on Friday as his plane was diverted because of mechanical issues from landing in Bozeman, Mont., where he had a scheduled rally. Trump took another plane from Billings Logan International Airport to Bozeman, airport staff said.

Reiterating a statement made Thursday, a spokesman for Newsom on Friday said Newsom, then governor-elect, was on a helicopter flight in 2018 with Jerry Brown; there was no emergency landing and Harris was not discussed. The spokesman also said that Trump repeatedly said he was worried about crashing and wrongly referred to the fire-ravaged town of Paradise as Pleasure on more than one occasion.

“It was a lively ride, but an utterly safe landing,” Jerry Brown said in an email through his spokesperson, adding that “the subject of Harris never came up.”

“I’m laughing about it,” Willie Brown told KPIX, CBS News’s Bay Area affiliate, on Friday, denying ever being on a helicopter with Trump. Brown enthusiastically praised Harris as highly qualified for the presidency and mocked Trump for making up the story.

In the Politico report, Holden says he met Trump at Trump Tower, en route to Atlantic City, where they were going to tour the developer’s brand new Taj Mahal casino in what he remembers to be 1990. Barbara Res, Trump’s former executive vice president of construction and development, told Politico that she remembers the flight, which she wrote about in a book, and that Holden, not Brown, was on board. She said the helicopter had to make an emergency landing due to instrument failure.

“Willie is the short Black guy living in San Francisco,” Holden told Politico. “I’m a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles.”

“I guess we all look alike,” Holden added with a laugh.

During his Thursday news conference, Trump first brought the story up with his usual dramatic flare and insisted the helicopter trip was a dangerous mission.

“I went down in a helicopter with him,” Trump said of Brown at his Florida resort. “We thought maybe this is the end. … So I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years. But he told me terrible things about her.”

This post appeared first on washingtonpost.com

You May Also Like

Editor's Pick

Controversy ensued recently when a vocal group within the Republican party (in the United States) began to make the argument that the Speaker position,...

Stock

In this edition of StockCharts TV‘s The Final Bar, Dave shows how breadth conditions have evolved so far in August, highlights the renewed strength in the...

Top News

Intensified aerial strikes in and around the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip have been met with retaliatory releases of Israeli hostages by the militant organization. On...

Economy

In an effort to promote stronger loyalty among customers, Delta Air Lines has recently announced changes that will make it more difficult to earn...

Disclaimer: YourRetireInvest.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively "The Company") do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

Copyright © 2024 YourRetireInvest. All Rights Reserved.