Cea Weaver, left, speaks during a news conference with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Jan. 1, in New York. (Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office via AP)
During the podcast, Weaver argued that resistance to progressive reform often comes not from large corporate landlords but instead from homeowners.
"I think the reality is that a lot of the people who are pushing back on the eviction moratorium and more rental assistance are not corporate landlords," Weaver said. "They are homeowners who feel as though an eviction moratorium is an attack on their rights as a property owner."
She added that this opposition presents a challenge for housing organizers, saying "White, middle-class homeowners are a huge problem for the renter justice movement."
MAMDANI SAYS HE ‘OBVIOUSLY’ DISAGREES WITH AIDE’S OLD VIEWS LINKING HOMEOWNERSHIP TO WHITE SUPREMACY
Cea Weaver walks in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. Weaver has been tapped by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to be his new director of the city's Office to Protect Tenants. (Gregory P. Mango)
In the same podcast, Weaver endorsed policies including universal rent control, the right to form tenant unions, blocking evictions, and funding rental assistance through higher taxes on the wealthy. She also argued that broader government programs could "chip away at homeownership" by providing stability through other means.
Weaver has also drawn scrutiny for past social media posts criticizing white homeownership. In an August 2019 post on X which was later deleted but resurfaced by Fox News Digital, Weaver wrote that "private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as ‘wealth building’ public policy."
In a tweet on her since deleted X account, Mamdani tenant director Cea Weaver called homeownership a "weapon of white supremacy." (Fox News)
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On her first day in office, Weaver joined Mamdani in announcing city intervention in the bankruptcy proceedings of Pinnacle Group, a landlord tied to housing violations and complaints, according to City Hall.
Fox News Digital contacted the mayor’s press office with questions about whether Mamdani stands by Weaver’s 2021 remarks but did not receive a response by publication.
Fox News Digital's Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
Jasmine Baehr is a Breaking News Writer for Fox News Digital, where she covers politics, the military, faith and culture.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mamdani-housing-czar-called-white-middle-class-homeowners-huge-problem-2021-podcast-appearance