Man in Near Helicopter Crash with Trump Says Former President Confusing Him for Willie Brown: ‘I Guess We All Look Alike’

(AP Photo/Nick Ut)

There are now three people refuting Donald Trump’s claim that he was in a near-helicopter crash with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown , including Brown himself.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Trump recounted the supposed near death tale of him and Brown, but Nate Holden , a former Los Angeles city councilman and state senator, told Politico on Friday that the former president is mixing up two Black men because he was the one in the helicopter with Trump.

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

According to Trump’s version of events, Brown joined him on the helicopter and shared “terrible” things about Vice President Kamala Harris . The two were previously in a relationship .

Holden told Politico that the helicopter event happened around 1990 when Trump was looking to build property in Los Angeles. While flying to Atlantic City, the two pilots told their passengers that some equipment was done and they’d need to make an emergency landing. The group, which also included attorney Harvey Freedman , Trump’s late brother Robert Trump, and Barbara Res , a former executive for Trump, eventually made it to New Jersey with some heavy turbulence.

Res also wrote about the helicopter story in her book All Alone on the 68th Floor, which was published in 2013. She also told Politico that Trump had mistaken Holden for Brown.

The Trump campaign did not deny what Holden and Res said, but instead pointed to a past New York Times article which simply refers to Trump’s book Letters to Trump including a letter Trump wrote where he also referred to Brown being in the helicopter with him.

Brown himself has denied Trump’s versions of events. The former mayor joined CNN on Friday and said Trump’s story “never happened.”

“Never happened. Period,” he said . “And I think my memory is probably better than his.”

Holden suggested Trump either “mixed it up” or completely “made it up” when it comes to the near death experience.

“This was just too big to overlook. This is a big one. Conflating Willie Brown and me? The press is searching for the real story and they didn’t get it,” he said.