Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Tuesday that Rick Santorum “probably didn’t mean to” say that he doesn’t care about the unemployment rate but that it still illustrates a broader problem with the former Pennsylvania senator.

“I know that Santorum probably didn’t mean to say it, but it’s what he said,” Gingrich said. “And, you know, when you’re going to take on an incumbent President of the United States you better know what you believe. You better be able to say it very vividly. Can you imagine a Barack Obama dealing with somebody who says he doesn’t care about the unemployment rate?”…

“It’s going to come down to who can stand toe to toe with Obama and I think by most standards people would accept that, in fact, I am a much better debater than either Romney or Santorum,” Gingrich said to applause.