Trump apparently confuses Willie Brown with Jerry Brown in helicopter tale

By James Oliphant

(Reuters) -Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appeared to confuse former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown with former California Governor Jerry Brown during a press conference on Thursday as he related a fantastical story of nearly dying in a helicopter crash.

Speaking from his Florida home on a variety of topics, Trump related a tale of almost going down in a helicopter with Willie Brown, who briefly dated Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris several decades ago.

“I went down in a helicopter with him," Trump said. "We thought maybe this is the end. We were in a helicopter going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing. This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was, he was a little concerned."

Trump also claimed Willie Brown told him "terrible things" about Harris.

But 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 a helicopter with the former president.

“You would have known if I had gone down on a helicopter with Trump,” he told the newspaper. He also denied that he had ever said anything disparaging about Harris to Trump.

Republicans have insinuated that Brown is in part responsible for Harris’ rise in politics although the two broke up in the mid-1990s, and Harris didn't win her first election until 2002. While the two were dating, Brown appointed Harris, then a young prosecutor, to two well-paying jobs on state boards.

While president, Trump toured fire-ravaged portions of California in 2018 via helicopter alongside then-California Governor Jerry Brown, NBC News reported.

Trump’s campaign and the Harris campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday about the apparent mix-up.

A representative for former Governor Brown told the New York Times there was no emergency landing and Harris never was discussed during the flight.

The current governor of California, Gavin Newsom, who was also a passenger, also said Trump’s near-death experience never occurred.

“I call complete B.S.,” he told the Times.

When 81-year-old President Joe Biden was still the Democratic candidate in the Nov. 5 election, Trump, 78, frequently mocked his opponent’s mental acuity and offered to take a cognitive test, arguing Biden was too infirm to be president.

Biden has since been replaced atop the ticket by the 59-year-old Harris, forcing Trump to scramble to find new lines of attack.

(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis)