Since Kamala Harris took the reins of the Democratic campaign for the November presidential election in the United States, Republicans have been happy to return Willie Brown to the forefront. The former mayor of San Francisco was a mentor – and briefly partner – of the candidate in the mid-1990s. She was 29 years old, he was 60. An age difference that, according to Donald Trump’s supporters, illustrates the ambition that consumes women that it could become. the first female president of the United States.
On August 8, at his press conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Donald Trump did not stop exploiting this episode. almost thirty years. He claimed to have known Willie Brown well and to have once been with him on a helicopter that was forced to make an emergency landing. “He wasn’t a fan of Kamala at the time, said the former president. He told me terrible things about her. »
Willie Brown immediately denied being in danger with Donald Trump and saying anything negative about Kamala Harris. And he threatened to sue the billionaire if he continued using his name to try to discredit the Democratic candidate. “I don’t want any relationship with Willie Brown to be detrimental to anyone, especially a dear friend like the vice president.” he told CBS on August 18.
master negotiator
At 90 years old, Willie Brown remains a sacred monster of public life in California. A state dominated by Democrats, where competition is tough: for 39 million inhabitants, the Golden State only has two senators; By comparison, the same is true for North Dakota, which has 770,000 citizens. Counterpart: Your elected officials have thick leather. “Those who succeed here excel elsewhere” describes Dan Morain, former journalist for Los Angeles Times. In the 1980s and 1990s, Willie Brown was considered the most powerful African-American politician in the country. Recently, he still occupied a lounge at the Le Central brasserie, until the appointment of Kamala Harris pushed him into greater secrecy.
Willie Brown, elected for three decades to the California Assembly, was its speaker from 1980 to 1995 and then mayor of San Francisco from 1996 to 2004. In half a century, he earned a reputation as a master negotiator, virtuoso of compromise and profitability . of the elevator – which earned him the interest of the FBI – but also as a fashion icon: his collection of suits (often Italian) reached five hundred pieces. Extravagant, lover of pirouettes, Willie Brown was “latest businessman of American politics in the 20th centurymycentury “, notes journalist James Richardson (Willie Brown: a biography, University of California Press, 2023, untranslated). “I was not born dull,” proclaims the chosen one.
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