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Mitt Romney fired back at criticism of his private equity background Friday with a new television ad running in South Carolina that characterizes his opponents' attacks as "embarrassing."

Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry have criticized Romney for his tenure as CEO of Bain Capital. Perry has called Bain's actions "vulture capitalism," and a super PAC supporting Gingrich has released a half-hour documentary titled "King of Bain," which paints Romney as a "corporate raider." The super PAC, Winning Our Future, is airing portions of the film in TV spots across South Carolina.

The new Romney ad blasts his rivals for the attacks.

“We expected the Obama administration to put free markets on trial, but as The Wall Street Journal said, ‘Mr. Romney’s GOP opponents are embarrassing themselves by taking the Obama line,' " the narrator says.

The ad airing Friday, titled "Bright Future," touts "businesses that Mitt Romney helped start," such as Sports Authority, Steel Dynamics and Staples.

“Mitt Romney helped create and ran a company that invested in struggling businesses, started new ones, and rebuilt old ones, creating thousands of jobs," a female narrator says. "Those are the facts.”

In response to the ad, the Democratic National Committee circulated a memo from the liberal think tank Think Progress, which points out that the ad touts "thousands" of jobs created on Romney's watch while the candidate typically cites 100,000 jobs on the stump. The memo cites an Annenberg Public Policy Center report on why that number is difficult to prove.

The Obama campaign has been going after Romney as its likely opponent in the fall.

Romney leads the GOP field in South Carolina by 8.7 points in the RCP Average. The candidates will face off in a Fox News debate in Myrtle Beach on Monday.