GOP Sen. John McCain managed to get a rise out of the North Korean regime by calling their Supreme Leader a “crazy fat kid” earlier in March on TV.

The Korean Central News Agency accused the senator on Tuesday of hurting the dignity of the country and the supreme leadership of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The state-run outlet also criticized GOP Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and other conservative hawks for their efforts to re-list North Korea as a state-sponsor of terrorism.

McCain told MSNBC’s Greta van Susteren in an interview on March 22 that the “crazy fat kid that’s running North Korea” is far worse than some of history’s worst dictators. “He’s not rational, Greta,” he explained. “We’re not dealing even with someone like Joseph Stalin, who had a certain rationality to his barbarity.”

Cruz led the charge to re-designate North Korea as a state-sponsor of terrorism, introducing new legislation two weeks ago.

KCNA wrote that the two senators’ actions and statements are manifestations “of their worst hostility toward the DPRK’s ideology, social system, and its people and a grave provocation little short of a declaration of war against it.”

“The service personnel and people of the DPRK are regarding the dignity of their supreme leadership as their life and soul,” North Korea’s state media added, “The DPRK will take steps to counter.”

[dcquiz] The senators “will have to bitterly experience the disastrous consequences to be entailed by their reckless tongue-lashing and then any regret for it will come too late,” KCNA warned, adding, ‘The revolutionary forces of the DPRK with its nuclear force for as its pivot will fulfill its sacred mission of devotedly defending its supreme leadership representing the destiny and life of its people by dealing a merciless sledge-hammer blow at those daring [to] hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership.”

The North concluded its response by asserting that McCain and Cruz are “like [puppies] knowing no fear of the tiger.”

After publication, McCain jokingly responded on Twitter, “What, did they want me to call him a crazy skinny kid?”

What, did they want me to call him a crazy skinny kid? https://t.co/Ym3juRfBev — John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) March 29, 2017

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