The media carried stories debunking Trump’s claim that he flew in a helicopter with Willie Brown, a noted California politician, and Brown told disparaging stories about Kamala Harris, whom he dated. The helicopter had a problem, Trump said, and almost crashed.
Brown denied that he was ever in a helicopter with Trump or that he ever bad-mouthed Harris to Trump. Trump did take a helicopter trip in 2018 with California leaders Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown. Another Black politician stepped forward, Nathan Holden, and said he was on a helicopter trip with Trump many years ago.
Despite the fact that literally no one corroborated his story, Trump insists it is true.
Former president Donald Trump insisted again Friday that he took a dangerous helicopter ride with former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown, telling the New York Times that he would release flight records.
Trump, who did not release the records, told reporters at a news conference Thursday that he had ridden in a helicopter with Brown, who dated Vice President Kamala Harris 25 years ago, claiming that Brown had criticized her during the flight.
Brown, who is Black, called Trump’s story “fiction.” Former California governor Jerry Brown, who is White, and the state’s current governor, Gavin Newsom, said they rode in a helicopter with Trump to survey the fire-devastated town of Paradise, Calif., in 2018, but they said Harris was not a topic of conversation and the landing was uneventful.
And late Friday night, Politico reported that Nate Holden, who is Black — a former Los Angeles council member who grew close to Trump when he tried to renovate the historic Ambassador Hotel in the 1990s — said he was the one in a helicopter with Trump when it almost crashed.
Trump claimed in the Times interview that he had “flight records of the helicopter” showing he was with Willie Brown and that he would release the records. The Times reported Trump said he was “probably going to sue” the news organization, according to an article written by longtime Trump reporter Maggie Haberman, and he responded mockingly to a request for the flight records by repeating it in a “singsong” voice.
The Times reported that Trump did not provide the records Friday night. On Saturday, campaign spokesman Steven Cheung shared a photo of a coffee-table book published last year in which Trump mentions the story of the ride with Willie Brown when The Washington Post asked for the helicopter records.
Trump’s dubious account comes less than a month after President Joe Biden, 81, left the presidential race amid concerns over his acuity after a damaging debate performance in June. Trump, 78, told more than 30,000 lies or falsehoods during his presidency and in recent weeks has lashed out as Harris, who is challenging him for the presidency, and who has drawn large crowds and enthusiasm among Democrats…
At his rally, Trump brought up the call with Haberman. He did not offer any clarity about the helicopter story.
Reiterating a statement made Thursday, a spokesman for Newsom on Friday said Newsom, then governor-elect, was on a helicopter flight in 2018 with Jerry Brown; there was no emergency landing and Harris was not discussed. The spokesman also said that Trump repeatedly said he was worried about crashing and wrongly referred to the fire-ravaged town of Paradise as Pleasure on more than one occasion.
“It was a lively ride, but an utterly safe landing,” Jerry Brown said in an email through his spokesperson, adding that “the subject of Harris never came up.”
“I’m laughing about it,” Willie Brown told KPIX, CBS News’s Bay Area affiliate, on Friday, denying ever being on a helicopter with Trump. Brown enthusiastically praised Harris as highly qualified for the presidency and mocked Trump for making up the story.
In the Politico report, Holden says he met Trump at Trump Tower, en route to Atlantic City, where they were going to tour the developer’s brand new Taj Mahal casino in what he remembers to be 1990. Barbara Res, Trump’s former executive vice president of construction and development, told Politico that she remembers the flight, which she wrote about in a book, and that Holden, not Brown, was on board. She said the helicopter had to make an emergency landing due to instrument failure…
“Willie is the short Black guy living in San Francisco,” Holden told Politico. “I’m a tall Black guy living in Los Angeles.”
“I guess we all look alike,” Holden added with a laugh.
Does this story mean that the media will now report on Trump’s lies and not ignore them?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
How many times has Traitor Trump promised to provide his tax returns and documents to prove voter fraud and he never did? Has anyone kept track or are we all exhausted and don’t want to waste anymore of our time doing that?
I think Traitor Trump’s promises to do this or that are just more lies to add to the list of lies that never stops growing. Is anyone is still keeping track of the traitor’s endless lies.
I will not be surprised if after Traitor Trump is dead and long gone since he has to die eventually, that he sets up a trust or tax-free foundation of some kind to keep publishing and republishing his les forever on his misnamed Truth Social.
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If trump’s lips are moving, he’s lying! He lies so much that now he can’t keep the lies straight/sorted out. It’s a pathological problem.
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He can’t be let loose, but as Mary Trump said yesterday, Let him talk. This is what happens. As the press reports Trump’s lies, they will if it makes a good story, like this one. The big problem with the press is Donald Trump’s normalization. Trump is not normal. I agree with Robert Jay Lifton, who said that Trump presented the United States with what he calls ‘malignant normality.” This happens when our society begins to see forms of destructive and dangerous behavior as usual. The press writes articles comparing Trump and Kamala Harris, but it doesn’t provide a context of who the two people are. One is a felon, the other has prosecuted felons, one is a fraudster, the other is not, and so on and on. Trump is a pathological liar, and so at the trumped-up meeting he had at Mar a Lago, he lied many times. Whenever a reporter questioned one of his lies, Trump scolded the reporter and went on to another lie.
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The NYT just wrote another story amplifying and legitimizing the Republican attacks on Walz as a legitimate news story worthy of getting prominently “investigated”! When did Walz decide to abandon his men in Iraq?
“Walz in the National Guard: A Steady Rise Ending With a Hard Decision
In a military career that spanned three decades, Tim Walz achieved one of the highest enlisted ranks in the Army. Some peers took issue with the timing of his retirement.”
QUESTIONS ARE RAISED!! BY “PEERS”!
”Since being picked as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate this week, he has found himself facing allegations previously aired by Minnesota Republicans and newly amplified by JD Vance, former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate”
In typical NYT reporting, the article purports to clarify the issue while actually presenting it as a “both sides” issue worthy of debate, with anti-Vance military men quoted uncritically to present the case for Vance abandoning his men and otherwise acting dishonorably.
From the article:
”Republicans have accused Mr. Walz of inflating his credentials, reviving a dispute from his past political campaigns over which designations Mr. Walz should be entitled to use as his exit rank.
On the Harris campaign site, he is described as a “master sergeant.” But on his governor’s page bio, he has kept the mention of “Command Sergeant Major.”
Nowhere is the Republican attack characterized as a desperate political smear. It’s just good people who disagree about whether Walz misled the public and acted dishonorably.
What is “newsworthy” to NYT reporters is the “debate” about whether or not Walz acted dishonorably, with “both sides” reporting in which Republican hacks are presented as making fair and legitimate arguments. So we can never know. We can just have doubts about Walz’ integrity.
I am guessing the NYT will be beating this drum until they find one small meaningless anomaly that will justify new “Walz dogged by unanswered questions” headlines.
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The Vice-President can’t pass ANY laws. Congress—both houses—pass laws. When Money controls the Houses, nothing proposed by a President (or VP) passes without Money support.
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Did you ever take a U.S. government course?
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Now that the NYT is led by a yellow journalist the newspaper is prone to “sensational stories” that sell more papers. Now they are pursuing stories based on hearsay and innuendo when the facts paint a different picture. The NYT leadership is trying to swiftboat Walz. The timeline of events and evidence do not support their claims. This is a muckraking attempt to discredit Walz. It is John Kerry 2.0.
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“The NYT leadership is trying to swiftboat Walz.”
lol
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a tempest in a teapot, made to keep voters from hearing that a Trump presidency would cut taxes for the wealthy, restrict women’s healthcare, defund education, and turn back the clock on clean energy.
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No confusion here. Trump took the copter with Mr. Brown. Who happens to be bad. Real bad. In fact he was the baddest man in the whole damn town. Badder than old King Kong · Meaner than a junkyard dog.
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Did “you guys” see that new organization called “Republicans for Harris”?
There was an interview yesterday on MSNBC where the president of the organization was SO ARTICULATE about cutting away the “cancerous” wing of the GOP, getting back to GOP Normal, calling out that same guy working for Trump now (and trashing Tim Walz’s military career) who did the Swift Boat thing to John Kerry, and giving Trump voters who are holding their noses a “permission structure” to remain GOP and NOT be MAGA, as with Liz Cheney and several others who have lost their GOP positions.
Manna. CBK
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I just watched a very informative podcast. David Pakman interviewed Anthony Scaramucci. He torches Trump and Vance. https://youtu.be/zJjFET9jcsc?si=Ftw7use_ztrIxj9o
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Diane: Interesting discussion about Scaramucci’s personal transformation and the earlier attractions to power. Thanks. CBK
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Not only Scaramucci but a good # from it45 administration have renounced & criticized it (former Chief-of-Staff Kelly, Bill Barr, Mark Meadows & many, many others).
Read the first Michael Wolff book about the it45 White House (and I think this was just about the FIRST year). I forgot the title, but it’s easily found.
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To people who vote for him, it doesn’t matter he produces the evidence or not. If they heard it or read, there is no follow up hearing or reading of fact-checking for them because they don’t attend to media that checks facts. For them, “he said it, it’s a fact.”
Just like infrastructure, the wall, cure for covid…
The ONLY way to get to those people is the debate. Ms. Harris has got to pin him down on the lies:
“Where is your evidence? Where can we find the artifact or proof of your statement?”
“Right now, give us 3 details of your infrastructure bill?”
“I’m holding an affidavit from… who verifies the facts which contradict what you are saying.”
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What remains of Trump’s mind is sinking into a swirling soup of self-deceit.
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