Former Fox News host and current conservative podcaster Bill O’Reilly said earlier Monday that he hopes former President Donald Trump “disappears” before the midterm elections.

O’Reilly is a longtime ally of the former president and podcast host Charlie Kirk wanted to know how Trump could help Republicans win more seats during the midterm elections, RawStory reports.

“What do you think his role in the midterms is going to be?” Kirk asked. “How do you think this factors into this midterm election?”

O’Reilly got right to the point.

“I hope he disappears,” O’Reilly said, “because it doesn’t do Republicans any good around the elections.”

O’Reilly said he believes the “bogus Jan. 6 Committee” will release its findings in the weeks leading up to the midterms. It seems to me these hearings are anything but “bogus.” The investigations into the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building and Trump’s role in inspiring is being assiduously investigated, so there’s little to suggest this is “bogus.”  But that’s O’Reilly for you. It’s good to remember that he was fired from Fox News due to a welter of alleged sexual harassment claims, and along the way had to settle a massive harassment claim.

I’m only mentioning this because some of us tend to have short memories, and even though O’Reilly is often intelligent and erudite, his behavior and using the “bogus Jan. 6 Committee” as a common Republican dog whistle makes me not believe him. And I really, really dislike this man for his misogyny.

That said, O’Reilly does get some things right. He mentions more and more Independents are weighing in and noted many are not among Trump’s fans. I think he’s correct here. In early September a poll conducted by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist bears this out: 67 percent of Independents who were polled said they don’t want Trump to run for president again.

So O’Reilly’s not wrong here.

“See it’s the Independent [voters] that always make the difference now,” he explained. “A lot of them don’t like Trump. And the more Trump is in the news cycle, the less the Biden administration and Democratic Party’s failures are focused on.”

“So, if I were Trump, I’d, you know, be down in Honduras or something and take a couple of weeks,” O’Reilly said. “Get out of the cycle!”

I’m conflicted here — on the one hand, it would be nice if Trump would step out of the limelight permanently, but if his showing up at Republican events and supporting them in other ways throws a monkeywrench into GOP land I’d be delighted. The Democrats need to shape up but believe me, the Republican Party needs a massive overhaul.