Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ripped The New York Times Wednesday for their recent coverage of Sen. Marco Rubio, calling it “another low” for the famed publication.

Appearing on “The Kelly File,” Romney told host Megyn Kelly that The Times’ “hit piece” was “totally inappropriate,” telling the host that Rubio is “a very capable guy” and a “serious contender” the newspaper was hoping to “diminish.”

MEGYN KELLY: The New York Times has a big piece on Marco Rubio this week and his financial problems trying back when he was trying to pay off student debt. They talk about how at one point, he and his wife and their new child had to move back in with his mother-in-law and they say he can’t manage his money. In fact, then they said the Romney team flagged this for you when you were vetting him as a possible VP running mate. Is that true?

MITT ROMNEY: Well, The New York Times knows nothing about our vetting process and I’m not going to comment on it but they were wrong to put something like that in their story. the story itself is not a new low for The New York Times, but another low for The New York Times. This is a guy who was not a wealthy person who had a normal life and made some investment decisions and made some choices which people make. There was nothing wrong with what he did. Nothing illegal with what he did and to try to turn it into some kind of a hit piece was really totally inappropriate. Marco Rubio is a very capable guy. A very effective speaker of the house in Florida. Accomplished a lot of things there and has been a very effective United States Senator. He’s also, like Jeb Bush, a serious contender here and The New York Times effort to try and diminish was, in my opinion, a real disappointment in that institution.

WATCH: