Gingrich says Chris Dodd and Barney Frank should be jailed

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Tuesday that Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) should be in jail instead of the bankers responsible for the financial meltdown.

"I think the people who are protesting on Wall Street break into two groups," Gingrich told an audience at The Washington Post/Bloomberg debate. "One is left-wing agitators who would be happy to show up next week on any other topic, and the other are sincere middle-class people who are, frankly, close to the tea party people and actually care. You can tell which group are which. The people who are decent and responsible citizens pick up after themselves. The people who are just out there as activist trashed the place and walk off and are proud of having trashed it."

"I think it's perfectly reasonable for people to be angry, but let's be clear who put the fix in. The fix was put in by the federal government. If you want to put people in jail, I'll second what [Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)] said. Start with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and let's look at the politicians who created the environment."

"Clearly, you're not saying they should go to jail?" Bloomberg TV's Charlie Rose asked.

"Well in Chris Dodd's case, go back and look at the Countryside deals," Gingrich insisted. "In Barney Frank's case, go back and look at the lobbyists he was close to at Freddie Mac. All I'm saying is that everybody in the media who wants to go after the business community ought to start to go after the politicians who have been at the heart of the sickness which is weakening this country."

Watch this video from Bloomberg TV, broadcast Oct. 11, 2011.