Was Donald Trump Almost In A Fatal Helicopter Crash? Why His Fellow Travelers Are Calling BS

Donald Trump has been off the campaign trail the past week, leaving Senator J.D. Vance, his vice-presidential pick, to do much of the battleground state-to-state visiting. But Trump did hold a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, which lasted over an hour. In it, he went through some of his classic grievances, but there was a new story this time — that he and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown were nearly in a helicopter crash. However, given the response by Brown and others, we're not sure Trump's version is the most accurate description of what really happened.

Here's what Trump said about knowing Brown: "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," via CNBC Television.

Brown was asked about the helicopter story and declared that none of it was true. Not only was there no near-crash, the two have never even been in a helicopter together. It may have been a case of Trump mixing up two California politicians — Willie Brown and former California Governor Jerry Brown. However, even with the right politician, Trump's account still doesn't seem to hold up.

In 2018, Donald Trump took a helicopter ride with then-California Governor Jerry Brown to tour the aftermath of the Paradise, California wildfires. But there was no dicey landing according to a spokesperson for Jerry, nor was there any discussion of Kamala Harris — another claim wrapped up in Trump's helicopter story was that Willie Brown had told him "terrible things" about Harris (via CNBC Television).

There was another witness on board — Gavin Newsom, current California governor (governor-elect at the time) — and he seemed to find Trump's version laughable. "I call complete B.S.," Newsom told The New York Times. Though he said that Trump did bring up the topic of the helicopter going down more than once.

Trump critics on social media quickly picked up on the Willie/Jerry mixup. For some, they think Trump should produce flight records to back up his claim. For others, it reinforced the idea that Trump's health is in decline, particularly his mental acuity. Trump's age has been on everyone's lips since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race; he's now the oldest candidate to run for president, and some believe he's not mentally fit to run. Trump has mixed up names before — Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley, George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, etc. He has said this is intentional to make a point. What that point is in the case of Willie and Jerry, we're not 100% sure yet.