Romney feared being fired

Exeter, New Hampshire (CNN) - Democrats and Republicans are seizing on a comment Mitt Romney made about worrying he could get a "pink slip" at work.

The GOP presidential candidate made the comment Sunday during a rally in Rochester, New Hampshire, while emphasizing his experience in the private sector.

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"I've learned what it's like to sign the front of a paycheck, not just the back of a paycheck, and to know how frightening it is to see if you can make payroll at the end of the week," he said.

"I know what it's like to worry about whether you're going to get fired. There were a couple of times I wondered if I was going to get a pink slip," Romney added.

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul addressed the candidate's remarks in a statement.

"Unlike President Obama, Mitt Romney has spent 25 years in the real world economy," Saul wrote. "As a young person just out of college, he worked his way up the career ladder knowing that his continued employment was by no means guaranteed. That's the way it is in the private sector."

A Romney aide could not immediately say at what point in his career the candidate feared being fired.

Campaign estimates put the candidate's personal wealth at around $200 million.

A spokesman for GOP rival Jon Huntsman released a statement Sunday calling the comment "absurd."

Meanwhile Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse took to Twitter to poke fun at Romney.

"I'm really worried about those bald tires on my limo," he tweeted.

–CNN's Jim Acosta contributed to this report.

Programming Note: Watch the ABC News/Yahoo News/WMUR New Hampshire presidential debate Sunday night on CNN at 8 p.m. ET.

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