The Former Mayor of San Francisco Is Threatening to Sue Donald Trump. Right here’s Why

August 17, 2024 1:16 PM EDT

Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown stated he would take into account suing former President Donald Trump in an interview with CBS Information this week. His feedback come amid a continued wrestle over whether or not the 2 endured a treacherous helicopter trip collectively—one thing the previous President and present Republican presidential nominee says did occur, however Brown says didn’t.

“Someone has acquired to ensure that he stops mendacity,” Brown is quoted as saying. “If he retains it up, in some unspecified time in the future, I’ll give him a style of his personal conduct. If he sues the New York Occasions for printing that I stated he lied, I’ll sue him.”

Throughout a press convention on Aug. 8 at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, Trump was requested about Vice President Kamala Harris—the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee within the upcoming election—and her previous relationship with Brown. (It’s understood that Harris and Brown dated for a while within the mid-Nineteen Nineties. In 2020, Brown authored an opinion piece for the San Francisco Chronicle titled: “Positive, I dated Kamala Harris. So what?”)

In response, Trump advised a narrative, describing him and Brown as passengers of a helicopter that had an emergency touchdown.

“Nicely, I do know Willie Brown very properly,” Trump stated. “In reality, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought possibly this was the tip. There was an emergency touchdown.”

Trump went on to say that Brown advised him “horrible issues” about Harris.

In his 2023 ebook Letters to Trump, through which he revealed his letters to a lot of influential individuals—the previous President mentioned the alleged helicopter incident within the caption of a photograph of him with Brown.

“We really had an emergency touchdown in a helicopter collectively. It was a bit scary for each of us, however fortunately we made it,” the caption learn.

Nonetheless, as reported by the New York Occasions quickly after Trump’s press convention, Brown has denied this ever occurred.

“You realize me properly sufficient to know that if I virtually went down in a helicopter with anyone, you’d have heard about it,” Brown, who additionally denied any ill-will between himself and Harris, advised the publication. Present theories recommend that Trump could have blended up Brown with different politicians. For instance, former California Gov. Jerry Brown as soon as rode with Trump in a helicopter in 2018 to survey wildfire harm, but no emergency touchdown was reported. On Aug. 9, Politico additionally reported that former Los Angeles metropolis councilman and state senator Nate Holden claimed he as soon as rode with Trump in a helicopter heading to New Jersey, which a fellow passenger stated resulted in an emergency touchdown

After the New York Occasions posted the story on Aug. 8, Trump fought again the following day, reportedly calling Maggie Haberman, a reporter on the paper. In keeping with Haberman, Trump shouted that he had proof of the alleged helicopter trip, and that he was  “in all probability going to sue” over the article.

Now, Brown has responded to Trump’s menace to sue.

In his interview with CBS Information, Brown can also be quoted as saying that Trump’s story is “a deliberate misrepresentation” and is simply “a distraction from the magnificence” of Harris’ “ascendancy” previously weeks since President Joe Biden endorsed her run for presidency, with many of the Democratic Get together following go well with.

TIME has reached out to the Trump marketing campaign and the Willie Brown Institute for remark and additional data.

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