Trump criticizes Occupy Wall Street as "wasting their time"

During a CNBC interview, Trump dismissed the Occupy Wall Street protests, claiming the demonstrators were "wasting their time" and lacked a cohesive message. He defended the bank bailouts (from which he benefited), stating, "We got bailed out but we paid it back." The comments positioned him squarely on the side of the establishment against populist economic anger, a stance he would later complicate during his 2016 run.

“I think some are very serious people. I think some are down there for dating purposes.” — Interview on CNBC Quote verified against source