McCain found multiple ways to imply that the basketball player wasn't very smart. | AP Photos McCain on Rodman: 'He's an idiot'

Republican Sen. John McCain has some harsh words for Dennis Rodman, calling the former NBA player an “idiot” following his explosive interview with CNN during his trip to North Korea for an exhibition basketball game.

“I think he’s an idiot. I think he’s the very person that — of not great intellect who doesn’t understand that he really does provide propaganda for this very brutal ruthless young man,” the Arizona senator said Tuesday on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Live,” referring to Rodman’s relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.


McCain said that Rodman’s presence is “almost comic,” but it enhances Kim Jong Un’s prestige with his people. North Korea is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, and the country is “full of unspeakable cruelty,” McCain said.

“So it isn’t a child’s game here,” he added.

( Also on POLITICO: Rodman yells at CNN's Cuomo)

Rodman arrived in North Korea earlier this week with a group of former NBA players to play against a team of North Koreans on Wednesday for Kim Jong Un’s birthday. In addition to criticism he faces for maintaining a relationship with the North Korean leader, Rodman ignited more uproar after a heated exchange Tuesday with CNN after he was asked whether he would use the opportunity to speak about jailed American Kenneth Bae, implying Bae may be guilty of a crime.

“Do you understand what he did in this country?” an emotional Rodman asked before yelling. “You tell me! You tell me! Why is he held captive?”

( PHOTOS: Inside North Korea)

McCain said the trip is “kind of a sideshow where a guy that’s not too bright, that’s looking for something to do,” but said that Rodman is being fed lines about Bae.

“When we’re talking about an American that’s being held prisoner in God knows what conditions and he is basically defending it, that’s pretty bad behavior,” McCain said.