U.S. Rep Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., watch during the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives January 30, 2018 in Washington, DC.

President Donald Trump on Monday ripped into Democrats who held their applause during his first State of the Union address, saying the behavior could amount to "treason."

In a speech in Ohio promoting the GOP tax law and Republican midterm candidates, the president questioned why Democrats in Congress refused to clap during many moments of his speech. Most of the caucus sat stone-faced during Trump's address last week as he promoted Republican economic policies and pushed for immigration changes that Democrats largely oppose.

On Monday, the president lambasted Democratic lawmakers and called their behavior "un-American." He specifically pointed out a widely shared moment in which nearly all of a group of Congressional Black Caucus lawmakers did not react when Trump pointed out that the unemployment rate for black Americans was the lowest ever in December.

"You're up there, you've got half the room going totally crazy — wild, they loved everything, they want to do something great for our country," Trump said. "And you have the other side — even on positive news, really positive news like that — they were like death. And un-American. Un-American. Somebody said, 'treasonous.' I mean, yeah, I guess, why not? Can we call that treason? Why not! I mean they certainly didn't seem to love our country very much."