Updated at 5:26 p.m. ET

President Obama said GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry has "to be a little more careful" with his rhetoric and says he'll cut the Texas governor some slack for suggesting the Federal Reserve is almost "treasonous."

In an interview with CNN airing tonight, Obama was asked if he thought Perry's comments during an Iowa event on Monday night were disrespectful.

"I think that everybody who runs for president, it probably takes them a little bit of time before they start realizing that this isn't like running for governor or running for senator or running for Congress, and you've got to be a little more careful about what you say," Obama said.

"But I'll cut him some slack. He's only been at it for a few days now."

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GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry criticized the Federal Reserve, suggesting that the central bank is almost "treasonous" and that Chairman Ben Bernanke would get an "ugly" reception in Texas.

Perry's swipe at the central bank came Monday night at the end of his second full day of campaigning. Since entering the race Saturday, the Texas governor has made a splash in the race for the GOP nomination and garnered headlines with his criticism of President Obama and his economic policies.

"Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous — or treasonous in my opinion," Perry said about the Fed at an event in Cedar Rapids.

When someone asked the Texas governor about Bernanke, Perry said, "I know there's a lot of talk and what-have-you about if this guy prints more money between now and the election. I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas."

Perry's comment drew rebukes from White House spokesman Jay Carney and Tony Fratto, a former aide to President George W. Bush, who first appointed Bernanke to the chairman's post.

Carney, according to ABC News, said Perry has to choose his words carefully. "President Obama and we take the independence of the Federal Reserve very seriously and certainly think threatening the Fed chairman is probably not a good idea," Carney said.

Fratto called Perry's comment about Bernanke "inappropriate and unpresidential" in a tweet sent out last night.

The New York Times reports that Perry spokesman Ray Sullivan said the governor "got passionate" about the Federal Reserve but did not disavow the remarks. "He is passionate about getting federal finances under control," Sullivan told the newspaper. "They shouldn't print more money, they should cut spending and move much more rapidly to a balanced budget."

President Obama's former spokesman Robert Gibbs hit back at Perry today and suggested Perry would soon "ask to see the president's birth certificate." Gibbs, appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe program, said there will be "crazy things" said as Perry, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann seek "to outdo each other to pledge allegiance to the Tea Party to pick this nominee."