Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) he shouldn’t have attended the State of the Union address, much less positioned himself near the center of the House aisle to shake hands with the president, slamming the New York Republican as “an embarrassment.”

Romney appeared to have a heated encounter with the disgraced freshman lawmaker as he walked down the aisle to take his seat for Biden’s address.

“I don’t know the exact words I said. He shouldn’t have been there. Look, he’s a sick puppy. He shouldn’t have been there,” Romney told reporters after the speech.

“I don’t think he ought to be in Congress and he certainly shouldn’t be in the aisle trying to shake the hand of the president of the United States and dignitaries coming in. It’s an embarrassment,” he added.

Romney said he didn’t hear Santos’s reply but Santos later punched back on Twitter.

“Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!” he tweeted. 

Asked if he was disappointed that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) hasn’t yet called on Santos to resign, Romney responded: “Yes.”