BS BULLETIN:
- President Donald Trump publicly posted Sen. Tom Cotton’s cellphone number while pressuring him to support permanent daylight saving time.
- Sen. John Kennedy defended Cotton and said Trump can “go from zero to a-hole in about three seconds.”
- Kennedy also put the entire Republican family feud in perspective: “Daylight Savings Time is not” a dispute with “existential significance for the future of Western civilization.”
Sen. John Kennedy has found a way to describe President Donald Trump’s occasional temperament that probably won’t be appearing in any White House biography.
“Zero to a-hole in about three seconds.”
The Louisiana Republican delivered the line Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” while discussing Trump’s increasingly heated battle with Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton over — of all things — daylight saving time.
Trump wants Congress to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, which would eliminate the twice-yearly clock changes and establish permanent daylight saving time.
The House passed the legislation in July by a 308-117 vote, but it has encountered resistance in the Senate.
One of the strongest opponents is Cotton.
Trump wasn’t pleased.
In a lengthy Truth Social post Saturday, the president singled out Cotton, called on Arkansas voters to pressure him and published what he identified as the senator’s cellphone number.
“Call Tom on his cellphone,” Trump wrote before giving out the number.
Trump said Cotton was standing in the way of legislation that would give Americans more usable daylight in the evening.
Cotton has a different concern.
The Arkansas senator says permanent daylight saving time has been tried before and abandoned after Americans experienced extremely late winter sunrises.
“Arkansans don’t want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I’ll always put Arkansas first,” Cotton said.
Enter Kennedy.
NBC’s Kristen Welker asked him how Trump publicly posting another Republican senator’s phone number helps the GOP with the midterm elections approaching.
Kennedy began with some perspective.
“Every now and then, there are disputes in Congress that have existential significance for the future of Western civilization,” he said. “Daylight Savings Time is not one of them.”
Kennedy then defended his Arkansas colleague. “Tom Cotton feels strongly about it,” he said. “Tom is a rock star senator. If you get between him and what’s best for Arkansas, he’ll devour you like a light snack.”
Kennedy made clear that Trump is also his friend.
Then he went searching for precisely the right description of the president.
“He exists loudly,” Kennedy said. “He can be tempestuous.” And then came the keeper. “He can go from zero to a-hole in about three seconds.”
Kennedy nevertheless made his position on Trump’s tactic unmistakable. “I don’t think he should have given out Tom’s cell phone number,” he said. “I don’t think that’s going to help convince Tom.”
Kennedy couldn’t resist finishing with one more line.
Turning to Welker, he told the NBC moderator that he had her cellphone number too. “But I promise not to give it out.”
MY QUICK TAKE
Rush used to say that Trump wasn’t a conventional politician because he didn’t possess the internal governor that tells conventional politicians, “You may be thinking that, but perhaps don’t actually do it.”
John Kennedy just supplied the Louisiana translation: “Zero to a-hole in about three seconds.”
And Kennedy did something else rather useful here. He reminded Washington that not every disagreement is the Battle of Gettysburg.
“Every now and then, there are disputes in Congress that have existential significance for the future of Western civilization.”
Daylight saving time isn’t one.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Mediaite — Kennedy says Trump can go from “zero to a-hole” over Cotton phone-number controversy
- New York Post — Trump posts Cotton’s cellphone number in daylight-saving-time fight
- Associated Press — Trump pressures Cotton over permanent daylight saving time
- CBS News — Trump urges Americans to call Cotton over daylight-saving bill
- Fox News — Trump posts Republican senator’s number amid stalled-bill fight
