Rick Perry said if “[Bernanke] prints more money between now and the [2012 presidential] election,” it would “almost be treasonous.” Perry made the comments on Monday at an Iowa campaign event.

On Tuesday in an interview with CNN, he said “I am just passionate about the issue and we stand by what we said,” referencing his attack against Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

While Perry’s comments drew applause from the Iowa crowd on Monday, it was widely criticized, even by some Republicans.

“You don't want to accuse the Federal Reserve chairman of being guilty of a crime punishable by death, which is what treason is,” said Karl Rove, senior advisor to former President George W. Bush, on Fox News.

President Obama, apparently, also gave Perry a stern talk on Tuesday.

“You know yesterday the president said I needed to watch what I say,” said Perry in New Hampshire on Wednesday.

“I just want to respond back, if I may. Mr. President, actions speak louder than words. My actions as governor are helping create jobs in this country," said Perry.

"The president’s actions are killing jobs in this country. It’s time to get America working again,” he added.

The Texas Governor and his supporters like to point to the relatively strong economy and jobs market of Texas during his tenure and contrast that with the relatively poor performance of the overall U.S. economy under Obama’s helm.

An often-cited (and true) figure is that Texas created 850,000 jobs from January 2001 to June 2010 under Perry’s leadership, which is more jobs created than all other U.S. states combined during that period.

Ben Bernanke