Sen. John McCain blasted White House press secretary Jay Carney on Thursday, saying the president's spokesman "ought to grow a beard because I'm not sure he should look at himself in the mirror in the morning."
McCain was responding to a question from "Kilmeade and Friends" host Brian Kilmeade, who said Carney had accused McCain of playing politics with questions about Libya.
Carney swiped at the Arizona lawmaker earlier this month over his criticism of Vice President Biden, saying the "one place I would not go for advice on vice presidential running mates is to Sen. McCain," and defended the White House over its handling of the Libya violence, although it is not clear if the press secretary has specifically targeted McCain on Libya.
Carney did say Republican attacks on the president's "bumps in the road" comment — in which McCain had participated — were "profoundly offensive" and amounted to a "desperate attempt to grasp at words and phrases."
But responding to Kilmeade, McCain said that the White House had "attacked" him.
"And they have been doing so, and if you can't attack the message and refute the message, then attack the messenger," McCain said.
He added that he was disappointed in the press secretary.
"Mr. Carney has really been a really deep disappointment to me, I knew him when he was a journalist," McCain said.
McCain went on to rail against President Obama, accusing his former presidential opponent of having "no respect for the truth." He also criticized Obama for the tone of his criticism against Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
"I also don't really think it's very presidential, a lot of the sarcasm the president uses in his attacks against Mitt Romney," McCain said. "Look, this is the most vicious campaign I have ever observed."
