“He’s connecting American legislators to a movement that was responsible for upwards to 100 million deaths,'” says MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough on his morning show, which is featured in the video.

The co-chairmen of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Reps. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) and Keith Ellison (Minn.), said the comments were reminiscent of McCarthyism.

“Calling fellow Members of Congress ‘communists’ is reminiscent of the days when Joe McCarthy divided Americans with name-calling and modern-day witch hunts that don’t advance policies to benefit people’s lives,” they wrote in the statement on Wednesday.