'A Huge Problem'
He expanded on that theme in an interview this morning on Bloomberg Television, saying, "I don't have much respect if you rig the game so you end up walking off with all the money." Speaking from Concord, Gingrich called on Romney to hold a news conference to discuss his time at Bain and said that "if he can't explain it," then " he has a huge problem."
Romney backers dismissed his comments about firing service providers as a minor misstatement. New Hampshire Representative Charles Bass, a Republican who supports Romney, told Bloomberg Television that the candidate's remarks were in the context of picking another health insurer, a point that his opponents overlooked.
"He makes little mistakes, we all do," Bass said. "These things will be taken out of context."
Attacks From Republicans
Romney accused his rivals of doing just that, and said he was surprised to see attacks on business coming from his Republican rivals instead of President Barack Obama.
"Free enterprise will be on trial," he told reporters in Hudson, New Hampshire. "I thought it was going to come from the president, from the Democrats on the left, but instead it's coming from Speaker Gingrich and apparently others. That's just part of the process. I'm not worried about that."
As he has for days, Romney touted his record at Bain Capital, which he helped found.
"I'm happy to describe my experience in the private economy and the fact that if you take all of the businesses that we invested in over our many years, over 100 different businesses and collectively they net-net added over 100,000 new jobs," he said.
In response to Bloomberg News inquiries for documentation about his assertion, Romney's campaign cited new hires at just three companies: Staples Inc., the Sports Authority Inc. and Domino's Pizza Inc. The data didn't account for dozens of other companies Romney says the firm invested in during his time there.
Troubled Businesses