Trump Publishes Senator's Phone Number to Advocate for Permanent Daylight Saving Time

<p>President Donald Trump published Senator Tom Cotton’s personal cellphone number on Saturday and urged Arkansas residents to pressure the Republican to vote for legislation aimed at making daylight saving time permanent nationwide.</p><p>This is not the first instance where Trump has disclosed a fellow Republican’s phone number publicly. During the 2016 Republican primary, Trump read Senator Lindsey Graham’s cellphone number aloud at a campaign event, to which Graham responded with a humorous video showing various ways he could destroy his phone.</p><p>Trump used a similar tactic on Saturday to advocate for the Sunshine Protection Act, which seeks to make daylight saving time permanent. In a lengthy post on Truth Social, Trump accused Cotton of obstructing the legislation, which passed the House with a vote of 308-117 in July and is currently stalled in the U.S. Senate.</p><p>“For some reason, Tom is stopping the Bill,” Trump wrote. “So, everyone in Arkansas… tell Tom to, GET IT DONE!”</p><p>Trump included Cotton’s cellphone number in the post and encouraged constituents to call him. He stated that the legislation should have bipartisan support and mentioned golfers, tennis players, hunters, and farmers as beneficiaries of extended daylight.</p><p>“So, everyone in Arkansas, a State I love, and won 3 times, the last by 34 points, tell Tom to, GET IT DONE! It will be appreciated by all,” Trump said. “Nobody wants to spend their precious time running all over the place, turning Clocks back twice a year, and having sunshine in the afternoon is better than early in the morning!”</p><p>Cotton has expressed opposition to the measure. The Arkansas Republican has warned that it would “push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour,” as previously reported by The Daily Wire.</p><p>“These highly concentrated benefits for a few industries in a few regions are offset by widely distributed costs across many more industries throughout the entire country,” Cotton stated in a speech. “And that’s to say nothing of moms sending their kids to school in the dark of night.”</p><p>The Daily Wire has reached out to Cotton’s office for comment. Cotton is not alone in his opposition to permanent daylight saving time; several Republican and Democratic senators on the Senate Commerce Committee previously voted against advancing the measure, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune.</p><p>If enacted, the Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time permanent, eliminating the biannual clock changes for most of the United States. Under the proposed legislation, clocks would remain on daylight saving time year-round, which is currently observed from March through early November. Most of Arizona and Hawaii, along with several U.S. territories, do not observe daylight saving time.</p><p>Supporters of the legislation argue that eliminating the biannual clock changes could reduce health and safety risks associated with the spring transition. Research cited by the American Heart Association has indicated increases in heart attacks and strokes in the days following the clock change. A study from the University of Colorado Boulder found a 6% increase in fatal car crashes during the following workweek.</p><p>Opponents, including several medical organizations, argue that permanent standard time better aligns with the body’s natural circadian rhythm by providing more morning sunlight.</p><p>Daylight saving time was first adopted during World War I and later standardized nationwide under the Uniform Time Act of 1966.</p>