Newt Gingrich on Wednesday denied reports that his campaign cannot cover a $500 filing fee to appear on the Utah primary ballot.
The Salt Lake Tribune first reported that a check from Gingrich's campaign to the Utah Republican Party bounced this week, meaning Gingrich might not appear on the state's ballot.
Gingrich told conservative Laura Ingraham on her radio show Wednesday morning it was "purely a mistake."
"We have far more money than that implies," he said.
He later told CNN it was a "goofy" mistake caused by his campaign switching banks.
"It wasn't a question of money — that particular bank account was closed," he said.
Gingrich sought to squash rumors that his campaign, which is heavily in debt, might not be able to survive an ongoing fundraising drought. "We had over 3,500 come online to donate after [Rick] Santorum announced that he would withdraw," he told Ingraham.
Gingrich cut his staff by a third and reduced his campaign schedule at the end of March in an attempt to keep his campaign going until the GOP convention in August.
When asked, Gingrich could not describe how many people his campaign now employs.
“I have no idea," he told Ingraham. "I’m out here campaigning in Delaware, not trying to run the campaign.”
But he promised the campaign would be able to finance his bid through August.
Gingrich has promised that he will stay in the presidential race until the convention, where he hopes to make a last-minute bid for delegates, and has promised at that point to "campaign enthusiastically" for Romney if he becomes the nominee.
Gingrich made a bid for Rick Santorm's supporters immediately after the former senator left the race on Tuesday. Gingrich called himself "the last conservative standing" in the race, automatically discounting Mitt Romney. Asked about his description of Romney Wednesday on Fox News, Gingrich said only that Romney would be "more conservative" than President Obama.
On Ingraham's show, Gingrich called Romney "a very, very good manager."
He went on to describe Obama as "kind of like having the cheerful cousin that borrows your credit card, your car, runs up hundreds of thousands on your credit card and wrecks your car ... but he’s a nice guy!"
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