House Democrats are demanding an apology from Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) for saying the American people “are going to hang” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) for high gas prices.

In an interview Friday with Politico, Boehner responded to the possibility of Pelosi calling a special session to vote on issues other than a GOP energy bill to expand domestic drilling.

“She’s going to bring us back and not deal with it? The American people are going to hang her,” Boehner said. Later, he said the hanging would “be fine, as long as we get a vote on our bill.”

A Boehner aide on Monday defended the GOP leader’s comments, saying he “used a figure of speech to reflect the frustration Americans feel every time they fill up at the pump.”

Democrats say Boehner went too far.

“Assertions of physical violence toward the Speaker of the House have no place in the halls of Congress. Period,” Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said. “Democracy is about settling differences through debate.”

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the remarks are “harmful to a useful debate” over how to bring down gas prices.

He said Boehner’s comments stem from GOP frustration “that the American public is not buying their Johnny-one-note energy policies of the past,” referring to GOP demands that offshore and Arctic drilling be included in any energy package.

Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said he was disappointed with Boehner’s “aggressive remarks about another Member of Congress.”

“It seems that his anger is misdirected, and I hope he will apologize for his remarks,” Clyburn said.

Other Democrats who called on Boehner to apologize include Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (Ill.) and Reps. George Miller (Calif.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) and Jan Schakowsky (Ill.).