Bill O'Reilly stepped into the figurative ring yesterday in response to remarks made by former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura during a March 9 interview on Fox and Friends.

Ventura, who is promoting his book, American Conspiracies, told Fox and Friends' Steve Doocy and Minnesota native Gretchen Carlson that the hosts of later Fox News programs "don't have the courage" to have him on their shows. He may have hurt his argument, though, with a slightly misguided metaphor.

"How come the Three Stooges on later at night won't have me on?" Ventura asked. "That's what I call them, Larry, Moe and Curly. O'Reilly, Hannity and, uh, Curly."

O'Reilly responded a day later featuring Ventura in his "Pinhead or Patriot" segment on The O'Reilly Factor.

The Fox host's final judgment: "Pinhead? Quite possibly."

Check out both men's remarks below, 34 seconds into the clip:

Hayley Tsukayama is an intern in the Star Tribune's Washington bureau.