Donald Trump claims he had near-death encounter with Kamala Harris’ ex, Willie Brown denies it happened

Donald Trump attended his first news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last week since the Democratic ticket was announced. He made a bold claim during the conference about having a near-death experience with Kamala Harris’ ex-boyfriend Willie Brown in a helicopter.

The US Vice President — who has come into the limelight since Joe Biden stepped down from the presidential race — briefly dated the former San Francisco mayor between 1994 and 1995. During the press conference, Trump was asked questions about Harris and Brown, which prompted him to reveal an alleged near-death experience.

Donald Trump reveals alleged near-death experience with Kamala Harris’ ex-boyfriend Willie Brown

Claims that Harris’ relationship with Brown helped her career trajectory have been used by critics to question her qualifications, reports Newsweek. When asked by a reporter about Harris’ previous relationship with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, Trump shared his thoughts.

Trump — who plans to have a debate with Harris — shared that he knew Brown ‘very well’ and went on to tell the story of their alleged helicopter near-death incident. He told reporters:

I know Willie Brown very well. In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. 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. So I know him, I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years

Trump also claimed that Brown told him ‘terrible things’ about Harris, as he ‘was not a fan of hers very much at that point.’

How true is Donald Trump’s story of a near-death experience with Willie Brown?

Much to Trump’s surprise, the former mayor has vehemently denied that anything like this ever happened. Speaking to CNN on a phone call a day after the claim was made, Brown rejected Trump’s account as ‘obviously wrong’ and said:

I’ve never been in a helicopter with him in my life.

He said he had ‘no idea’ what Trump was talking about and added:

Never happened, period. And I think my memory is probably better than his.

Clarifying the allegations that he told Trump ‘terrible things’ about Harris, he said:

No. Why would I? Give me a break, please.

He is trying his best to get some way to degrade Kamala. There is no reason why her name ought to be mentioned anywhere near his lies, period.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded to the claims, calling Brown ‘Slick Willie!’ Meanwhile, another senior adviser of Trump’s campaign pointed out that Trump had detailed the near-death experience in his 2023 book Letters to Trump.

Based on this, The Times reported that the former POTUS may have confused Willie Brown with former California Governor Jerry Brown. Trump toured wildfire damage by helicopter with Jerry Brown and California Governor Gavin Newsom in 2018. However, Jerry Brown’s spokesperson also denied going through any such ‘near-death’ experience.

Backing his story, Trump then took to his app Truth Social and wrote:

First of all, it was in New Jersey, not California, and it was Willie Brown, not former Governor Jerry Brown.

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Sources Used

Newsweek: Donald Trump Says He Had a Near-Death Experience With Kamala Harris' Ex

CNN: Trump said he ‘went down’ in helicopter ‘emergency landing’ with former San Francisco mayor, who says it never happened