The new US vice president JD Vance has taken aim at former Conservative minister and Rest is Politics presenter Rory Stewart.
Mr Vance, who took his new job in the White House less than a fortnight ago, accused the former British politician of believing he has an IQ of 130 “when it is really 110”.
“This false arrogance drives so much elite failure over the last 40 years,” the Republican claimed.
In response, Mr Stewart, who presents the podcast with former New Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, sarcastically praised Mr Vance’s ability “to measure other’s IQ so instantly and confidently”.
But he accused him of insulting his voters, tweeting: “I hope your big genius is not making you patronising towards people with an IQ of 110 - since that is 75 per cent of the US population. And perhaps even 1 or 2 of your voters”.
The bizarre exchange erupted when Mr Vance earlier claimed: “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbour, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world.”
Mr Stewart took to X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter to describe the comments as a “bizarre take” on the bible.
He added that it was “less Christian and more pagan tribal. We should start worrying when politicians become theologians, assume to speak for Jesus, and tell us in which order to love…”
Mr Trump and his allies have consistently hit out at British politicians in recent months.
Elon Musk has described Reform as the UK’s “only hope” as he stepped up his public support for Nigel Farage’s party and urged Britons to vote for it.
The tycoon and close ally of Donald Trump is at the centre of rumours he is preparing to give the party up to $100m.
He also stepped up his feud with Keir Starmer, by claiming that “very few” businesses want to invest in Britain under Labour. Sir Keir previously clashed with Mr Musk in August when the billionaire claimed in a post on the X platform he owns that “civil war” was "inevitable" in Britain.
