Ex-DNC vice chair: Biden must be pushed to drop out

A former Democratic National Committee vice chair wrote Sunday that leading Democrats must be pushed to urge President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race or history will judge them harshly.

"Our elected officials," wrote former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak on Facebook, "are staying shockingly silent in public, especially considering how many of them acknowledge privately that this has to happen."

"They fear political retribution but they should really fear that if we lose this election because they didn’t have the guts to do what they know needs to be done, holy hell and history will come down on them like an anvil," he added.

Reacting to Thursday's much-criticized debate performance by Biden, Rybak pushed back on the idea that no other Democrats could beat former President Donald Trump — he listed five Democrats who could do well, starting with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — as well as the idea that a Biden withdrawal would lead to chaos.

"It is absolutely not too late to pick a new candidate," Rybak wrote. "Hold two forums for candidates who meet a threshold, do a straw poll and the delegates pick. A convention that right now almost no one would turn on, would turn into 'must see TV' with Democrats trying to top each other on making the most compelling case."

Biden has yet to be officially nominated. The Democratic National Convention is to be held Aug. 19-22.

Rybak wrote that Biden "deserves tremendous praise" for his time as president, but said people should not confuse gratitude for what he has accomplished with the need to win the 2024 presidential election over Trump.

"A Presidential election is not the Academy Awards where you are rewarded for what you did," Rybak wrote.

"Elections are about the future and Democrats have an inspirational message that is not being told while a convicted felon who tried to steal the election and end our democracy looks like he could win. Not a single thing about that will change unless we — all of us — demand we change our messenger."