Saturday on MSNBC, NBC contributor Sophia Nelson and Daily Beast columnist Jonathan Alter both accused the president of the United States of engaging in “autocratic behavior.”

Nelson, who said she is a “scholar of the American Constitution,” argued President Donald Trump tweeting he has been spied on and calling for an investigation is unconstitutional behavior.

“This is autocratic behavior. Wake up, America,” Nelson stated. “Presidents don’t talk like this. They don’t do this. There’s not this kind of mess going on that we have. There’s so many investigations. There’s so much drama, there’s so much impropriety.”

She added, “For the president of the United States to suggest that he’s been spied on and then to demand on Twitter an investigation and get it is a problem for me as an American citizen. And as someone that’s a scholar on the Constitution, this is unconstitutional behavior. This is not what our founding fathers had in mind. It just isn’t.”

Alter agreed, calling Trump a “Banana Republican.”

“When the president says that the NFL players maybe they should leave the country — that is such an anti-constitutional, unconstitutional view of our system. It’s of a piece with what we’re seeing in them trying to shut down this investigation. It’s autocratic behavior like we’ve never seen in American history.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent