Trump to Pope: Capitalism 'Is a Great Thing When It Works Properly'

Donald Trump says he doesn't believe Pope Francis opposes capitalism, but was game for a hypothetical question from CNN's Chris Cuomo Wednesday about what he would say if he met the Pope and was asked about it.

Cuomo interviewed Trump in a one-hour special aired Wednesday night.

With Francis scheduled to visit the United States in late September, Cuomo suggested that the Pope might meet the billionaire real estate developer and have his translator say, "The Pope believes that capitalism can be an avenue to greed, be really toxic and corrupt, and shaking his finger at you when he so it. What do you say to the Pope?"

"I would say, ISIS (the Islamic State) wants to get you. You know that ISIS wants to go in and take over the Vatican?" Trump said.

"He talks about capitalism, you scare the Pope?" Cuomo asked.

"The Pope, I hope, can only be scared by God," Trump said, before adding, "The truth is, you know, if you look at what is going on, they better hope that capitalism works. It is the only thing we have right now. It is a great thing when it works properly."

But capitalism hasn't been working properly in American, Trump said. Dodd-Frank banking regulation and other rules are stifling "great capitalism," he said.

"I have seen a lot of what he is opposed to," he added. "I don't think the Pope is opposed to capitalism."

Francis has called unfettered capitalism the "dung of the devil" and a "subtle dictatorship."

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