CNN anchor mocks 'Occupy Wall Street' protesters over TARP

CNN anchor Erin Burnett mocked the "Occupy Wall Street" protest during the "Seriously!?" segment of her show, which debuted on Monday.

"What are they protesting?" she asked of the demonstration. "Nobody seems to know."

Burnett noted it was not "just a bunch of hippies protesting" and then played footage of a previously-recorded interview with an unemployed "Occupy Wall Street" protester.

The protester was asked if he knew that taxpayers had "actually made money" on the Wall Street bailout, to which he responded he was "unaware."

"Yes, the bank bailout made money for the taxpayers, right now to the tune of $10 billion," Burnett said. "Those are seriously the numbers. This is the big issue? So, we solved it."

While some may see the report as simply a light-hearted segment poking fun at the protest, those who already feel ignored and belittled by the mainstream media are likely to find offense.

The New York Times has already had to defend itself from accusations that it was biased against the protesters.

As corporations enjoy near record profits and Americans face staggering unemployment, the protesters pledged to occupy Wall Street in lower Manhattan until something was done about corporate greed and the influence of the wealthy on American politics. They have been camped out in New York’s old Liberty Plaza, now called Zuccotti Park, since September 17.

Although some of the protesters are upset with the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the Bush administration's $700 billion response to the mortgage crisis, the New York City General Assembly — the decision-making body for the “Occupy Wall Street” protest - has .

Those grievances include efforts to eliminate union rights, discrimination in the workplace, student debt, corporate personhood, and the undemocratic influence of big business on economic policymaking.

Watch video, courtesy of CNN, below: