The White House denounced Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry yesterday for his threatening remarks toward the head of the US Federal Reserve that represented some of the most inflammatory rhetoric of the 2012 election campaign.
Campaigning in Iowa on Monday, the Texas governor said he would consider it "treasonous" if Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke "prints more money between now and the election" in November 2012 - a fresh sign of the political heat the central bank faces as it tries to right the stumbling US economy.
"If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y'all will do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas," Mr Perry said to laughter from supporters in Iowa.
"Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous, treasonous in my opinion," he said.
The White House responded by saying it is important for the Fed to remain independent, and retaliated against Mr Perry, who on Saturday entered the race for the Republican nomination to face Democratic President Barack Obama. Mr Perry is already considered one of the strongest candidates for the Republican nomination.
"I certainly think threatening the Fed chairman is not a good idea," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
"When you are president or running for president, you have to think about your words," Mr Carney said in Iowa, where Mr Obama was on a campaign-style bus tour.
Mr Perry, who succeeded former president George W. Bush as Texas governor, is known for strongly conservative social and fiscal views. In his first three days as a candidate, he has upset Democrats by questioning Mr Obama's patriotism and implying the US military does not respect Mr Obama as commander-in-chief. His remarks on Mr Bernanke caused the biggest controversy, however.
Another top-tier Republican presidential candidate, US representative Michele Bachmann, also criticised the Fed. "The Federal Reserve is not subject to transparency. The Federal Reserve has made terrible, grievous errors," Ms Bachmann told reporters in South Carolina yesterday.
Representative Ron Paul, another Republican presidential candidate, also is a fierce critic of the Fed.
Mr Bernanke was appointed in 2006 by Mr Bush, a Republican, and reappointed by Mr Obama. Under Mr Bernanke, the Fed has embarked on one of the most extended periods of cheap money in US history, keeping US interest rates near zero since late 2008 and pledging to do so until mid-2013.
Mr Perry, a favourite of the conservative Tea Party movement, may have been trying to tap into the anti-Fed sentiment of some of the most right-leaning Republican voters, who deeply distrust the unelected, but powerful, officials of the central bank.
The Fed has faced criticism in Congress over its emergency financial rescues and regulatory lapses. Defenders argue the central bank was right to act aggressively to stem the crisis, and they credit it with preventing a financial collapse.
Reuters