Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump, and paid a heavy political price, are calling out their Democratic counterparts for refusing to address President Joe Biden’s mental decline in public.

Former congressmen John Katko and Tom Rice told the Daily Caller it’s time for Democrats to put country over party and be honest about Biden. While a handful of Democratic lawmakers have publicly called for Biden to step aside, far more have seemingly told journalists off the record how badly Biden has declined while refusing to take their concerns out into the open.

“Their primary function is doing what’s necessary to get reelected, and not what’s best for the country,” said Rice. “I took an oath to protect the Constitution. Best of one thing, I took an oath to protect and I wasn’t going to violate my oath.”

Now, many Democrats are failing to take a similar stand despite demanding Republicans do so in the past.

“Strong leadership is lonely and tough decisions, especially those against your own party, are even lonelier,” Katko told the Caller. “But at times they are so very necessary.  This may be one of those times for many in the Democratic Party regarding President Biden. History is a long time.”

During the Trump administration, Democrats accused Republicans of cowardice for not turning against the president. More specifically, the media viciously attacked Republicans who would say behind closed doors they had certain problems with Trump, but didn’t say so publicly. Now, the roles are reversed.

Here’s the thing, Jake/Bres/I have talked to a lot of Democrats and do so quite frequently.

I haven’t talked to one who privately says they think Biden is capable of running and beating Trump at this point.

The debate was just a public airing of the concerns many of them have… https://t.co/6ApJvDqAmF

— Heather Caygle (@heatherscope) July 9, 2024

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote in 2022 that Republican members of Congress lack moral courage, which he defined as standing up for what one believes even in the face of social pressure.

Robert Kagan, an editor-at-large for the Washington Post wrote “those Republicans remain in their coward’s crouch, hoping to survive as they have the past eight years — by keeping their heads down, by waving off Trump’s threats and dictatorial behavior.”

Rice and Katko were part of the few republican congressmen that voted to impeach Trump. Katko opted to retire from Congress afterwards, while Rice was ousted in a Republican primary. (RELATED: Nearly Half Of Democrats See Joe Biden Unfit For A Second Term Due To Age: Poll)

Biden’s age has been the dominant issue in political news for weeks since his disastrous debate performance against Trump. Countless liberal activists and media members, as well as former Democratic officials, have called for Biden not to seek reelection in the time since.

“These Democrats, they know that Biden is unfit for office,” said Rice.  “They don’t want to offend their base and risk losing their seat, because they crave their power more than they want to do what’s right for the country.”