ESPN host Stephen A. Smith did not hold back during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Thursday night. Just minutes after Hannity referred to the two as “friends,” the pair began trading barbs over the presidential race between Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Right out of the gate, Hannity employed a frequent Trump attack and went after the vice president’s mental fitness. “The reason she’s struggling and she can’t — she’s like tied up in a pretzel,” Hannity said. “She has to give us word salads because she won’t tell us how she really feels. She’s hiding her true beliefs. Donald Trump doesn’t do that.”

Smith quipped back: “I know you’re not talking about someone being lucid and cogent and enunciating their thoughts with clarity and you’re bragging about Donald Trump. We can’t be watching the same stuff.”

Hannity then launched into a fierce defense of Trump, telling a skeptical-looking Smith, “I have sat with him for hour after hour after hour, topic after topic after topic, and he is so dialed in.”

“Really?” Smith asked Hannity. “And he’s canceling press conferences?”

In recent weeks, the former president has backed out of several high-profile media appearances, including with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” CNBC and a local NBC affiliate in Philadelphia.

The Fox News host ignored Smith’s question and quickly switched topics to what he called President Joe Biden’s “obvious deep cognitive decline.” Hannity accused the vice president and Smith’s “friends in the Democratic Party” of ignoring Biden’s mental state before he dropped out.

“What is she supposed to say?” Smith asked. “She’s supposed to get up there and say, ‘You know, my president, my boss, there was cognitive decline.’ You don’t do that. You don’t dime out your boss.”

Smith then flipped Hannity’s argument on trustworthiness back on the former president.

“When you bring up issues in terms of character, or in terms of being truthful, or whatever, let me tell you something right now,” Smith said. “You can bring up a whole bunch of Republicans and I’ll be cool with it. … You can’t bring up Trump to make a case against somebody else using those arguments. You can’t do that.”

Hannity concluded the contentious interview by telling Smith he believed the ESPN host would “privately be voting for Trump.”

“Never,” Smith told Hannity. “And I told you I’m on the record: I would’ve voted for any Republican but him. [Nikki] Haley, [Chris] Christie, not him.”