16 July 2012 Last updated at 11:14 ET

Mitt Romney labels Obama campaign attacks 'dishonest'

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has called on the Obama campaign to back away from "dishonest" attacks about his time at Bain Capital.

Mr Romney said in a nationally televised interview President Barack Obama should focus on his own record.

The president says his rival's time at the private equity firm is fair game.

Mr Obama returns to the swing state of Ohio later on the campaign trail, while Mr Romney will join Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal on a fundraising trip.

With November's election looming, the campaigns have stepped up efforts to criticise each other's records, but recent polling suggests the race is fairly close.

'Very proud'

Mr Romney's appearance on Monday follows a barrage of interviews on Friday when he responded to reports that he was still listed on Bain's regulatory filings a couple of years after he said he left the company.

The timing is key because between 1999 - when Mr Romney said he left the company he founded - and 2001, Bain was responsible for closing down American firms and shipping jobs overseas.

In Monday's interview with the Fox and Friends news programme, Mr Romney did not call for an apology, but said he was "very proud of the record I had in my business career".

Labelling the Obama campaign's attacks "dishonest", he said: "What does it say about a president whose record is so poor that all he can do in this campaign is attack me?"

"I think when people have accused you of a crime, you have every reason to go after them pretty hard."

Last week, Obama campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter suggested that the former Massachusetts governor had opened himself up to felony charges if he had been involved in Bain during the years in question, but had not said so on his campaign disclosure forms.

Mr Romney also suggested on Monday businesses that are campaign contributors to Mr Obama would receive government money from the president's policies.

'Stop whining'

There is no sign that the Obama campaign will relent on its criticism of Mr Romney and Bain.

"No, we will not apologise," Mr Obama said in an interview aired on CBS on Monday, adding that if Mr Romney wanted to run on his business leadership, he needed to take responsibility for it.

Rahm Emanuel, mayor of Chicago and Mr Obama's former chief of staff, told ABC News on Sunday that the former governor should "stop whining" and defend himself.

"You can't say to the SEC, 'I was the CEO, chairman and president, but I'm not responsible. I'm not accountable'," Mr Emanuel said.

Mr Romney and his aides say he left Bain in 1999 to run the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

In a statement, the company said Mr Romney "remained the sole stockholder for a time while formal ownership was being documented and transferred to the group of partners who took over management of the firm in 1999".