Trump and Harris debate on ABC; Trump says he wants two more
STORY: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris have agreed to a debate. The show, which will air on ABC on September 10, will be the first direct meeting between the two rivals in a race that polls show is extremely close. On Thursday afternoon, Trump made his first public appearance since Harris chose Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate:
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump apparently confused two California politicians, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and former San Francisco Governor Jerry Brown, during a press conference on Thursday, including telling a bizarre and false story about a near-death experience in a helicopter.
From Mar-a-Lago, the former president dramatically recounted a near-plane crash while traveling with Willie Brown, who had a brief relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris several decades ago.
“I was flying in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe that was the end,” Trump said. “We were in a helicopter together going to a certain place and there was an emergency landing. It was not a pleasant landing.”
Trump claimed that Brown had made critical comments about Harris. The former mayor, however, denied these remarks and said he had always had a good relationship with his former protégé, even after they separated.
“And Willie was – he was a little worried,” Trump explained. “Well, I know him, but I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years. But he told me terrible things about her. But that’s what you’re telling me anyway, I guess. But he had a big part in what happened with Kamala. But he – he, I don’t know, maybe he changed his mind. But he – he wasn’t a big fan of her at that point.”
However, new details show that Trump confused the two Californian politicians.
Brown, a longtime Democratic power broker who also served as speaker of the California State Assembly, told the San Francisco Chronicle after Trump’s press conference that he was never in the helicopter with the former president.
“They would have known if I had flown in a helicopter with Trump,” he told the newspaper. He also denied that he ever said anything derogatory about Harris to Trump.
The New York Times reported that Willie Brown was not on the helicopter flight, but rather Governor Jerry Brown, the former governor of California. Current California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was also on the flight, said there was no emergency landing and the helicopter’s passengers were never in danger.
“I say this is complete nonsense,” Newsom said.
So what happened in the helicopter?
In 2018, then-President Trump and then-California Governor Jerry Brown toured the fire-ravaged parts of California by helicopter.
Brown, who resigned in January 2019, confirmed to CNN through a spokesman that there was no emergency landing and no discussion about Kamala Harris.
Neither Trump’s campaign nor Harris’ campaign immediately responded to requests for comment on the apparent mix-up on Friday.
When 81-year-old President Joe Biden was still running for re-election, 78-year-old Trump frequently asked him to take a cognitive test, arguing that he was unfit for office.
Biden has since been replaced at the top of the electoral list by 59-year-old Harris, forcing Trump to come up with new lines of attack.
Reuters contributed to the reporting of this story
