Donald Trump continues to insist that he once took a scary helicopter ride with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, although Mr Brown dismissed the story as “fabricated.”
But as it turns out, another Californian politician, Nate Holden, actually accompanied Trump on a turbulent helicopter flight decades ago, US media reports.
Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Holden are black.
The former president said during a press conference that he and Mr Brown “crashed” together in a helicopter and that Mr Brown was “a little worried”.
The story became a topic of discussion after Trump recounted it on Thursday in response to a question about Brown’s relationship with Kamala Harris, the two of whom dated in the 1990s.
Trump was asked if he thought the relationship played a role in Harris’ career. Harris was a prosecutor at the time and was elected district attorney in San Francisco in 2002.
“Well, I know Willie Brown very well,” Trump said before speaking about his memories of the flight.
“We thought maybe this was the end,” Trump said. “We were in a helicopter … and there was an emergency landing. It was not a pleasant landing.”
He then claimed that the former mayor had told him “horrible things” about Ms Harris.
“He was a big part of what happened to Kamala,” Trump said.
Brown, 90, told US media he had never shared a helicopter with Trump, adding: “I don’t think I would want to fly in the same helicopter with him.”
He also denied having said anything derogatory about Ms Harris.
“This is so far-fetched, it’s unbelievable,” he said told the local television station KRON. “I couldn’t imagine thinking about Kamala Harris in any negative way.
“She’s a good friend from a long time ago, an absolutely wonderful woman, smart as hell and very successful electorally.
“He did what Donald does best: creative fiction.”
Despite the strict rejection by the former mayor of San Francisco, Trump insisted in a telephone call with the New York Timesand said he would “probably sue,” without giving further details.
Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung released a photo of a page from Trump’s book “Letters to Trump,” showing the former president with Brown and mentioning the helicopter incident in a caption.
Meanwhile, 95-year-old Holden, a former Los Angeles city councilor and state senator, told US media that he had a clear memory of a helicopter ride with Trump.
In the 1990s, Trump tried to develop real estate in Los Angeles.
Mr Holden said that around 1990, during a visit with Trump to his casino in Atlantic City, they experienced a very turbulent helicopter ride.
The helicopter had a mechanical failure and had to make an emergency landing in New Jersey.
Others speculated that Trump, 78, may have confused Willie Brown with Jerry Brown, the former governor of California, with whom he shared a helicopter to visit the aftermath of the Paradise wildfires in 2018. Gavin Newsom, the state’s current governor, was also on board the flight.
But both men told US media that there was neither an emergency landing nor any other danger on this flight.
Trump’s remarks at an hour-long news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate come as recent polls show him declining compared to Ms Harris.
According to a poll conducted August 5-9 by The New York Times and Siena College, Ms. Harris leads Trump in three key swing states – Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan – by 50% to 46%.
According to RealClearPolitics’ polling average, Harris is slightly ahead in the majority of votes, although Trump continues to hold the lead in some key swing states.
