This article is from the archive of our partner .

Protesters from the Occupy Wall Street movement are "jealous" and "playing the victim card," Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain said on Sunday, in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation."

“To protest Wall Street and the bankers is basically saying you’re anti-capitalism,” Cain said, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. With that, Cain seizes the lead among Republican candidates in condemning the protests, which have spread to numerous other cities across the country, and have occasionally triggered clashes between activists and police.

The Times notes that responses to the protesters are starting to break along partisan lines. Cain accused labor unions of helping to arrange the demonstrations, and depicted the rallies as calculated attempts to distract voters from the economic slump that is imperiling President Barack Obama's chances of reelection.

Not to be outdone, Rep. Michele Bachmann issued a similar message: Don't blame Wall Street; blame Obama.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, by contrast, sided with the protesters this week, noting that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor hadn't been vocally opposed to protests when the protesters were members of the conservative Tea Party movement. (Cain, too, is something of a darling to Tea Party activists, who helped him win a Florida straw poll last month.)