Barbara Resthe former executive vice president of construction and development at the Trump Organization, ran against former president Saturday donald trumpsays he traveled with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown in a helicopter that had to make an emergency landing in the 1990s.
“We were working on a very big project in California,” Res told NBC News’ Ali Vitali on MSNBC, adding, “We were working with local and state politicians. [former California state Sen.] Nate Holden.”
During a press conference on Thursday, Trump told a story about a helicopter flight with Brown, telling reporters that “we were in a helicopter together going to a certain location and there was an emergency landing.”
“This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was, he was a little worried. So I know him. I know him very well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years, but he told me terrible things about [Vice President Kamala Harris],” Trump added, referring to the fact that Harris and Brown briefly dated.
Asked whether Trump often confused the identities of Brown and Holden, Res said Saturday: “I don’t remember. That was 30 years ago, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Donald didn’t mix it all up in his head.”
“What I really think,” Res added, “is that Nate was, you know, a board member, and Willie was a big guy. He was an important and impressive guy… [Trump] I wanted to be with Willie, because Willie was an important guy.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story, but on Friday the former president responded to a New York Times report on the helicopter story, saying: “There were ‘logs,’ maintenance logs and witnesses. There was also a story about ‘Willie and Me’.”
Shortly after the former president’s press conference on Thursday, Brown dismissed Trump’s story. On Friday, he told NBC News, “No, I have not been” in a helicopter with Donald Trump.
“Are you kidding me?” Brown said, before confirming that he never spoke to Trump about Harris.
Upon hearing Trump’s story, Brown added, “I laughed. I assumed he was in a helicopter with someone black and made a mistake and thought it was me.”
On Friday, Holden said for the first time Political that he was the man on the helicopter ride with Trump and that the pair, plus several others, were traveling to Atlantic City to visit Trump’s new Taj Mahal casino.
His account was supported by Res, who told MSNBC: “It wasn’t like, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to crash.’ Turns out we can’t continue, so we find the nearest airport and [the pilots] landed us in Teterboro and everyone was fine.”
“Donald was terrified,” Res said, “and after it was all over, he was playing with Nate Holden, who happens to be a black man, and he said, ‘Nate, you turned white.’”
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
