Dennis Rodman’s antics in North Korea are “almost comic,” says Senator John McCain, but he also worries that the attention on Rodman detracts from the atrocities committed by Kim Jong Un’s regime, and elevates the leader’s legitimacy in the country.

“I think he’s an idiot,” the Arizona Republican said of the former NBA player on CNN on Tuesday. “I think he’s a person of not great intellect who doesn’t understand he really does provide propaganda for this very brutal, ruthless young man.”