Fox News Senior Political Analyst Brit Hume said Monday that many in the Republican Party are secretly hoping the January 6 House Select Committee does serious political damage to former president Donald Trump and renders him politically unviable to seek a second term in 2024.

Hume made his comments during an appearance on “Special Report” when he was asked by host Bret Baier:

“I guess the question still is, are they moving towards trying to make a legal case against Donald Trump, or one that is a political case to somehow prevent him from being a factor in 2024?”

That led Hume to respond:

“Well, I think they’re doing both. Jamie Raskin, one of the committee members has said, you know, part of what they’re doing is to create something that can be referred to the justice department for possible prosecution.”

Hume then expanded on his thesis:

“What strikes me about this, Bret, is that if they succeed – either by damaging him or staining him such that he is either unable or for legal or for political reasons to run again – they might end up finding out that they’ve done the Republican Party a great service, because I think a great many Republicans think they can’t win with Trump at the head of the ticket again. They are afraid of his supporters and don’t want to come out against him directly. But they’d like him to go away. If the effect of this committee is to make his possible candidacy go away, I think a great many Republicans would privately be very glad.”

The larger question, however, is will Republican voters agree with Hume and cast their primary ballots for someone other than Trump if he does decide to seek a second term?

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