In this Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017 photo, President-elect Donald Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, center, accompanied by her husband, George, speaks with members of the media as they arrive for a dinner at Union Station in Washington, the day before Trump's inauguration.

President Donald Trump's public clash with George Conway entered its second day Wednesday, with the husband of top White House advisor Kellyanne Conway slamming Trump as "nuts" after the president called him a "husband from hell!"

The back-and-forth continued outside of the social media platform later in the day, with Kellyanne herself weighing in to add that Trump is "obviously defending me."

George Conway, a veteran attorney with deep roots in Republican politics, had long been a prominent critic of Trump on Twitter, despite his wife's role as one of the president's most reliable public defenders.

While that marital dynamic fascinated many in the media, Trump himself, despite his penchant for pursuing his critics in the public forum, had steered clear of attacking Conway directly.

But Trump broke his silence Tuesday, after Conway sent a series of tweets listing the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder and anti-social personality disorder listed in the latest edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders — and explicitly accusing Trump of displaying those symptoms.

The president called Conway a "total loser" in response to a fiery tweet from Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale saying Conway "hurts his wife because he is jealous of her success."

Trump TWEET a total loser!

Conway responded with a flurry of tweets, and an interview in The Washington Post, where he said "the mendacity, the incompetence [of Trump], it's just maddening to watch."

Conway continued: "The tweeting is just the way to get it out of the way, so I can get it off my chest and move on with my life that day. That's basically it. Frankly, it's so I don't end up screaming at her about it."

On Wednesday morning, Trump lashed out again.

Echoing Parscale, Trump said Conway "is VERY jealous of his wife's success & angry that I, with her help, didn't give him the job he so desperately wanted. I barely know him but just take a look, a stone cold LOSER & husband from hell!"

Trump TWEET stone cold LOSER

Later Wednesday, Trump told reporters outside the White House that Conway is a "whack job."

"I don't know him. He's a whack job, there's no question about it, but I really don't know him. I think he's doing a tremendous disservice to a wonderful wife. Kellyanne is a wonderful woman, and I call him Mr. Kellyanne. The fact is that he's doing a tremendous disservice to a wife and family," Trump said.

Conway had reportedly been in line for a role in the Trump administration's Justice Department. But Conway said in June 2017 that he was pulling himself out of consideration. "For me and my family, this is not the right time for me to leave the private sector and take on a new role in the federal government," Conway said in a statement at the time.

In a telephone interview with Politico on Wednesday, Kellyanne Conway defended Trump, asking, "you think he shouldn't respond when somebody, a non-medical professional accuses him of having a mental disorder? You think he should just take that sitting down?"

"The president is obviously defending me," she added. "He could privately say to me, 'Honey you're a distraction. We love you. You'll always be a part of the family but go be with your kids. They need you. Go make a million dollars an hour. Go do that honey.' It's the opposite."

The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the exchange between George Conway and Trump.

George Conway did not immediately provide comment to CNBC on the Twitter spat — but he did respond to Trump just a few minutes after the president's tweet was sent.

"You seem determined to prove my point. Good for you!" Conway tweeted, along with the hashtag #NarcissisticPersonalityDisorder.

Conway TWEET good for you

After re-posting the symptoms for the disorder he accuses Trump of having, Conway added a more blunt punctuation mark in a follow-up tweet: "You. Are. Nuts."

Conway TWEET you are nuts