The argument over daylight saving time took an unusually personal turn when President Donald Trump pushed a Republican senator to face public pressure. Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy later suggested the President’s explosive style may have undercut the persuasion he wanted to achieve.
John Kennedy rebuked Trump for posting Sen. Tom Cotton’s phone number during a daylight saving time dispute
Donald Trump used Truth Social on Saturday to urge Arkansans to contact Sen. Tom Cotton over the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent. He called Cotton a friend but posted the senator’s personal cellphone number and told people to “GET IT DONE!” Cotton’s phone was then flooded with calls.
John Kennedy addressed the episode Sunday on NBC News’ Meet the Press. Asked about Trump’s decision, the 74-year-old senator said Trump “exists loudly” and can be “tempestuous.” He then offered the bluntest assessment, saying “He can go from zero to a-hole in about three seconds.” Kennedy said Trump should not have published Cotton’s number and doubted the tactic would persuade his fellow Republican.
The clock debate has turned into a surprisingly sharp split inside the Republican Party. Trump has made year-round daylight saving time a priority, and the House moved his preferred legislation forward in July with the Sunshine Protection Act. The measure would scrap the twice-a-year time change, but Senate opposition has kept it from moving ahead.
Trump has pitched the idea as a Republican accomplishment before the November midterms, while also arguing that changing clocks creates economic costs and contributes to issues such as stress, crime, and sports-related problems.
Cotton is on the other side of the clock. The Arkansas senator warned last year that keeping daylight saving time all year would leave millions of Americans with a “dark and dismal” winter. Kennedy has also played down the stakes, arguing that Congress certainly faces battles with huge consequences, but “daylight saving time is not one of them.”
