Cotton says he, Trump in touch

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton is in frequent contact with President Donald Trump, offering personnel advice and policy recommendations, the lawmaker told a Little Rock audience Wednesday.

“We probably talk, you know, on a weekly basis, either in person at the White House or over the phone, and I try to get him to see things the way I think that we should go for the good of the country and for the good of Arkansas,” Cotton said. “When he’s right, I support him and when he’s wrong, I try to change his mind.”

On the issues, “President Trump is right a lot more than President Obama was,” Cotton said.

Asked to grade the president’s job performance thus far, Cotton said Trump deserved “an A+ in certain matters,” a comment that unleashed applause — and audible groans.

The Republican from Dardanelle described his relationship with Trump on Wednesday during an hourlong interview with Clinton School of Public Service Dean Skip Rutherford.

The event, which was held at the Robinson Center, drew roughly 800 people, including former White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty and former U.S. Rep. Ed Bethune.

Rutherford, a Democrat and longtime Bill Clinton associate who had personally invited Cotton to speak, promised Wednesday’s conversation would be “informative, respectful and candid.”

The tone was civil as they discussed “President Trump’s first 100 days” in office. A handful of audience members who booed and jeered were encouraged to mind their manners.

“[The senator] has a right to state his opinion,” Rutherford said.

Cotton gave Trump an A+ grade for nominating Neil Gorsuch to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court and for firing missiles on a Syrian airbase after a deadly nerve gas attack.

Trump would get “a lower grade …a B” for filling executive branch vacancies, Cotton said.

“The White House needs to move faster on getting those nominees to us,” he said, referring to those needing Senate confirmation.