Rep. Upton: Trump Likely to Run Again: 'The Voters Still Like Him a Lot'

(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, says Trump remains popular among voters and is likely to run again in 2024.

“Well, I have said from the beginning, I think that Donald Trump is going to be a candidate in ’24. The voters still like him a lot,” Upton told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday:

“We see that certainly in Michigan. He’s had a number of decisive wins, where he’s endorsed candidates that they have won. He’s had a few losses as well, but he certainly entertains a majority of the Republican base, and will be hard to stop.

“And, frankly, as we look at the economy, we look at gas prices, all these different things, folks are not really happy with the Biden administration, which is why he is mired at a level even below where Donald Trump was at this point in his tenure.”

Upton noted that the presidential elections in both 2016 and 2020 were close. “And you have got the base voters that are really upset that things didn’t go their way, and they’re — they’re loyal as can be.”

Asked by host Dana Bash if he thinks the January 6 hearings are “resonating” with “moderate Republican voters and independents,” Upton said, “Yes, I think so.”

“I think the overriding issue certainly is the economy and gas prices. But I think there’s been real interest in what’s going on. You have got, obviously, your different factions that are not going to turn it on and watch. They made their decision some time ago.

“But, yes, I think that it’s had an impact on voters across the country. And we will see how this thing plays out. The committee has been very careful not to divulge any details in advance of their hearings.

“For me, I have — obviously, I was there that day. The regrets that I see is that some of the folks that they have talked to who are now — their answers are being made public, where have they been for the last year-and-a-half? Why weren’t they saying what they’re saying now a year-and-a-half ago, particularly to those of us that actually witnessed what was going on, to back us up a little bit?”

Even Dana Bash noted on Sunday that the January 6 committee has called no opposing witnesses:

In her interview with committee member and Trump nemesis Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Bash asked him: “But why aren’t you calling witnesses in a public way who might challenge the committee? Is that intentional, because you don’t want to deviate from the storyline that you’re trying to present to the public and, of course, potentially to the Justice Department?”

“No,” Schiff said:

“I mean, we are interviewing, frankly, anyone that has relevant evidence. We’re putting that relevant evidence before the public. And we’re doing it in a way that is the most cohesive and that we can get across the salient points to the public.

Schiff said the committee would still like to have “several high-profile people come before our committee.

“But, at the moment, I can’t disclose what private conversations may or may not be going on with respect to certain individuals. But there are still key people we have not interviewed that we would like to,” Schiff said.

He told Bash that former Vice President Mike Pence “is “certainly a possibility. We’re not excluding anyone or anything at this point.”

During a speech in Nashville on Friday, former President Donald Trump called the January 6 committee “a sham presentation…based on video that has been deceptively edited, misleadingly cut, and even doctored.

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