Craig Carton quickly gets into feud with WEEI trio

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Craig Carton has been back on WFAN for just over a month and he already has a new radio feud.

The “Carton & Roberts” afternoon drive host, who spent three years off the airwaves including a year in prison for a fraud conviction, is in a war of words with the hosts of “OMF” on WEEI in Boston. The spat stemmed from an interview Carton said he gave for their “Giving Tuesday” show, in which one of the hosts, former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria, asked him if he was allowed to have conjugal visits in prison.

“The answer is no, and you can do anything you want to try to make light of my going to prison, [but] you’re making a jackass of yourself, frankly,” Carton told Fauria in the interview that eventually aired Thursday on WEEI.

Since then, the two programs have been trading barbs on their respective shows and via Twitter.

Carton tweeted about “OMF’s” poor ratings shortly after the interview aired — the show finished ninth in the summer book with a 3.7 share during the afternoon drive, according to the Boston Globe — and then went on a nearly 10-minute tirade about it on “Carton & Roberts.”

“If you’re top five, maybe call me back,” Carton said. “But while you’re in ninth place and your job’s not that secure, shut your faces. Did I get sensitive? You’re damn right I did. Because I was doing you a favor. You asked me to come on a radio station for a charity day and decided to try to be tough guys and come at me aggressively about going to prison and being found guilty.”

Carton, whose past radio feuds most notably included Mike Francesa, claimed “OMF” sat on the interview for two days and aired it at 4 p.m. Thursday in an attempt to boost ratings. One of the show’s hosts, former Red Sox utility man Lou Merloni, came back with a rebuttal.

“Hey @craigcartonlive We held onto the interview because we didn’t think airing a convicted felon on Giving Tuesday was a good idea,” Merloni tweeted. “It was Giving Tuesday, not ‘steal $5 million’ Tuesday. Your sensitive ass couldn’t handle a joke question. And now you want to go off on the radio?”

Of course, Merloni then ranted more about it on “OMF.”

“Here’s the thing, Craig: none of us woke up to an FBI agent arresting us for a Ponzi scheme,” Merloni said. “None of us stole $5 million from some of the people that trusted us. None of us have spent time in federal prison and none of us are a convicted felon. So you can take the ratings and shove them up your ass. I’d say we’re winning when you really look at the big picture.”

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