President Donald Trump posted Sen. Tom Cotton’s cell phone number to the world on Saturday, as part of a plea for his Truth Social followers to badger his Republican ally into making daylight saving time permanent.
“For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill and, in the Senate, it’s very easy to do, it only takes one! It should pass overwhelmingly, in a Bipartisan fashion,” Trump posted. “So, everyone in Arkansas, a State I love, and won 3 times, the last by by 34 points, tell Tom to, GET IT DONE!”
A source confirmed that the number the president shared actually belongs to Cotton. When The Washington Sun called the number minutes after Trump’s post, a recording said the mailbox was full and could not receive messages. Cotton’s office did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment.
Cotton has long detested the idea of making daylight saving time permanent. In a Senate floor speech last year, Cotton said doing so would “make winter a dark and dismal time for millions of Americans,” particularly harming kids. The Senate was only able to unanimously pass the bill in 2022 because Cotton was reportedly unaware the vote was taking place, though the measure stalled out from there.
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The Arkansas Republican didn’t back down in a post on Saturday.
“Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first,” he posted on X.
Trump continued his tear against Cotton soon after.
“If Tom Cotton were putting Arkansas first, he would give them an extra hour of daylight and, more importantly, they wouldn’t have to run all over their houses, farms, work places, and everywhere else, twice a year, having to change their Clocks, and often forgetting to do so,” he posted on Truth.
The bill, Trump wrote, “has been held up in the Senate, a place where things go to die, by Tom Cotton, for months! — And for what, other than ‘ego?’”
Trump has made a unique argument for extending daylight saving time: He believes it would be nice for golf.
“The PGA TOUR, as an example, needs more Daylight in the afternoon in order to finish their Tournaments,” Trump said in his Saturday post. “Likewise, regular Golfers, Tennis Players, Hunters and, perhaps most importantly, Farmers who want more Daylight to play or work.”
It’s unclear if the president’s additional advocacy will have much of an effect. The bill passed the House this summer, but has not moved in the Senate. Daylight saving time ends on Nov. 1. The Senate isn’t due back in D.C. until Nov. 9, after the midterm elections.
In his second post, Trump did make more of a political argument for daylight saving time.
“TAKE THE WIN TOM, JUST TAKE THE WIN! YOU NEED IT,” he wrote, “AND SO DOES OUR BELOVED REPUBLICAN PARTY!”
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