Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said Monday that President Donald Trump calling Democrats treasonous for not clapping enough during his State of the Union address was reminiscent of North Korea.

During a speech in Ohio Monday, Trump said Democrats “were like death and un-American,” when they did not stand and clap after he announced “really positive news” in the address.

“Somebody said treasonous. Yeah, I guess, why not?” Trump said. “Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean, they certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much.”

In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Monday, Whitehouse responded by saying “maybe he’s been watching too much North Korean television, where everybody in the North Korean assembly stands up and they all clap together automatically whenever the dear leader says something.”

“That’s not the way America works,” the senator continued. “I think that the most un-American thing was what the President said, that there oughtn’t to be dispute or disagreement with him among senators and members of the House of Representatives.”

He added, referring to the probes into Russian meddling in the 2016 election: “I think that it’s a sign that the noose is perhaps getting a little tight around the White House and they’re starting to get a little bit panicky, because using words like that is very irresponsible and I think a sign of nerves starting to crack over there.”