President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE on Thursday evening slammed White House press secretary Josh Earnest, accusing him of garbling President Obama’s message.

“Having the right press secretary is so important,” Trump said during a rally in Hershey, Pa. "This foolish guy, Josh Earnest. He delivers their message so bad. He could deliver a positive message bad."

“The president’s very positive, but he’s not so positive,” Trump added of Earnest. "Maybe he’s getting his orders from someone else. Does that make sense?”

ADVERTISEMENT

Trump’s remarks are the latest development in an escalating war of words between top aides for Trump and Obama.

Earnest rebuked Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway earlier Thursday after she criticized him for saying Trump encouraged Russian hacking of his presidential opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonDemocratic groups using Bloomberg money to launch M in Spanish language ads in Florida The Hill's Campaign Report: Presidential polls tighten weeks out from Election Day More than 50 Latino faith leaders endorse Biden MORE.

"It is just a fact that the Republican nominee for president was encouraging Russia to hack his opponent because he believed it would help his campaign," Earnest told reporters.

"I'm not trying to be argumentative, it’s not a controversial statement. I am trying to acknowledge a basic fact. All of you saw it, it was not in dispute."

Conway slammed Earnest Thursday morning for suggesting Trump knew Russia was behind the hacking of multiple Democratic entities before Election Day.

“This is incredibly disappointing to hear from the podium of the White House press secretary because he essentially stated that the president-elect had knowledge of this, maybe even fanned the flames,” she said on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.”

“I guess he’s auditioning to be a political pundit after his job is over soon,” added Conway, who was Trump’s campaign manager. "And I wonder if his boss, President Obama, agrees [with him].”

Trump in July urged Russian hackers to reveal the contents of the private email server Clinton used as secretary of State.

“I will tell you this, Russia: If you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” he said during his last news conference on July 27. "I think you will be rewarded mightily by our press."