Greek comedian Lakis Lazopoulos, ranked by Forbes as one of the most influential celebrities in Greece, has lashed out at the recently launched liberal Potami (The River) leader Stavros Theodorakis, a former TV presenter. In an interview with Proto Thema, Mr. Lazopoulos had said that Mr. Theodorakis appeared to him to be even more “stupid” than former Greek prime minister George Papandreou.

Mr. Theodorakis had responded to this criticism from his own personal site in an article written by Potami’s Lina Papadaki that likens Lakis Lazopoulos with Greek businesswoman Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, a controversial figure who is also known for heading the Greek organizing committee for the 2004 Athens Olympics. The article on Protagon, titled “Gianna-Lakis: The System that Scared”, describes the two arch enemies as friends and buddies in the resistance.

Not wasting a heartbeat, Mr. Lazopoulos responded to this criticism during his show on Tuesday night. He criticized statements made by Mr. Theodorakis stating that people can’t survive on 750 euros per month by stating that there are people whose “bags are empty”. He responded to comments by Mr. Theodorakis stating that people would by gas and food imports if they had extra money by saying that it’s a pity that Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky hadn’t met Mr. Theodorakis before writing “The Idiot.”