*In a recent exclusive interview with POLITICO, former Los Angeles City Councilman and State Senator Nate Holden set the record straight about a near-fatal helicopter incident involving Donald Trump.
Contrary to the former president’s repeated claims, it was Holden, NOT former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who accompanied Trump on the nerve-racking ride.
Holden, who at 95 years old vividly recalls the harrowing event, estimates it took place sometime in 1990.
“Willie is the short Black guy living in San Francisco,” Holden remarked. “I’m a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles. I guess we all look alike,” he added with a hearty laugh.
The confusion surfaced again on Thursday when Trump, at a Mar-a-Lago press conference, mentioned Willie Brown while addressing a question about Vice President Kamala Harris and her past relationship with the former San Francisco Mayor. Trump – having another one of his “Joe Biden moments” – claimed he knew Brown “very well,” recounting a shared helicopter emergency.
“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 told reporters.
Brown, reached by CNN, categorically denied Trump’s account. “I’ve never been in a helicopter with him in my life,” he stated. He further criticized Trump for attempting to discredit Vice President Harris. Holden agreed, suggesting Trump’s story was likely a means to undermine his political opponent.
In the interview, Holden explained that he first met Trump in the lobby of Trump Tower as they were en route to Atlantic City to tour the freshly inaugurated Taj Mahal casino. There, Holden was frequently addressed as ‘senator,’ a detail that seemed to irritate Trump. “He said, ‘You know I own this building but nobody seems to know who I am,’” Holden recalled.
The helicopter incident made Holden especially nervous, as it happened in the aftermath of a tragic 1989 chopper crash near Forked River, N.J., which killed five people, including three high-ranking executives from Trump’s casinos.
While Trump’s account paints a dramatic picture of camaraderie and a shared near-death experience with Willie Brown, Nate Holden’s recollections bring clarity and emphasize their enduring differences.
“There is no reason why Kamala’s name ought to be mentioned anywhere near his lies,” said Brown, underscoring the political motives potentially influencing Trump’s distortions.
For Holden, the mix-up serves as a humbling commentary on public misidentifications and the often distorted narratives in the realm of politics.
“We have to laugh about it,” Holden concluded, finding humor even in the most serious of his near-death experiences with Donald Trump.
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