Comment let him try a rewrite! (Score 1) 507
If he thinks the code is bad, ask him why the code is bad. Ask what his problem is with the code, and what he wants to improve and why. Ask him to be very specific, with examples of what could be improved, why, and how.
If you still disagree about the code and how it works, you can decide to actually let him rewrite a bit. Make sure you both agree on a relatively isolated/small part. Set a time constraint on the task. Then, when he's done, check. If he made better code - great! You might learn something and you have better code. He may not be so bad after all. If he made things worse, or broke them, or even if there it's just a matter of taste- great! He might learn something!
Also what you can do is get another person to look at the code, who you know writes clean code. Ask him what he thinks, and see if it matches the criticism of the intern.