Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) punched back at former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, calling him a “loser,” though she conceded she will need help to defeat one of her GOP primary opponents, whom she called McCarthy’s “puppet.”

Mace, one of the eight Republicans who joined Democrats to oust McCarthy from the speakership in October, was a thorn in McCarthy’s side until he left the House at the end of last year. But even with McCarthy absent from the lower chamber, their bad blood has continued. McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill last week Mace needed to get help and needed to straighten out her life.