As we reported the other day, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a housing event, at which a woman in a COVID mask talked about finally being free of the "violence of eviction." Mamdani, of course, wants to freeze rents in the city and has his eye on private property he'd like to seize if landlords don't meet his standards.
Then there's this woman—Tracy Rosenthal, co-founder of the Los Angeles Tenants Union and co-author of "Abolish Rent"—who seems to believe you don't have a home if a landlord can demand rent from you "at gunpoint," with the added risk of calling in agents of state violence (the police) to physically kick you out. Listen to this nutcase:
🚨 Meet the “Abolish Rent” Ideologue Teaching DSA Tenant Organizers How to Wage War on Landlords
— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) July 17, 2026
Tracy Rosenthal co-founded the Los Angeles Tenants Union, helps politically educate DSA tenant organizers, and is currently on rent strike in New York City.
In this supercut,… pic.twitter.com/0fw5wi30rt
The post continues:
… Rosenthal says tenants pay rent “at the barrel of a gun,” describes withholding rent as a “liberatory vision of home,” and explains how movement lawyers can use the legal system to buy tenants time.
She also endorses tactics including camping outside a landlord’s home, leaving bad Yelp reviews of their other businesses, and crashing family weddings.
As you will see, Rosenthal radically frames the relationship between property owners and tenants as inherently exploitative.
I am certainly sympathetic to anyone dealing with a bad landlord. But this goes far beyond protecting tenants from abuse. It treats the landlord-tenant relationship itself as illegitimate and pushes organizing tactics to an extreme.
Rosenthal’s ideology and organizing model increasingly permeate DSA’s tenant movement. Stick around for even more clips!
We've seen enough, thanks.
This woman is bat-shit crazy.
— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) July 17, 2026
Refusing to pay rent = “liberatory vision of home”
Paying on the schedule you agreed upon when signing the lease = “making this rent payment at the barrel of a gun”
Landlords who decide to rent to you = “Exploitation and domination”
Having an apt…
The post continues:
… available for you to rent (because you don’t want to sleep in a park) = “Hoarding the places where we live”
No one forces someone to sign a lease.
This very well be the worst case of diarrhea of the mouth I have ever witnessed. The fact that she has reached the age she is just proves our benevolence as a society.
— Michael Bolton (@MiBolton6886) July 18, 2026
Nonpayment of rent is the easiest reason for eviction. No violence, just a court date. And then if you don’t move out we have a sheriff come out so that we may change the locks because you don’t follow the Court order. Easy peasy. It’s a contract.
— Lisa Jones (@007LisaJones) July 18, 2026
I urge these people to buy or build housing they can supply to others so they can show us how it can be done better.
— The Playful Walrus (@PlayfulWalrus) July 17, 2026
It's proof positive that when you feed the delusions of mentally ill people, they just become more ill and move to the next anti-social agenda.
— John Gilbert (@MyLiberalPony) July 17, 2026
She’s the new group of people that literally contribute nothing of value to society, but have expectations that others should provide value to HER.
— welshwitch78 (@welshwitch78) July 17, 2026
These are the type of people that turn entire countries into tenements and slums.
How can they afford lawyers but not rent?
— Shane (@shanethevein) July 17, 2026
Probably pro bono through NGOs, which are partially funded by the taxpayers.
She thinks crashing the landlord's wedding is a righteous form of protest against rent increases?
— Cpt. Fuzzy Boots ❤️❤️❤️ (@cptfuzzyboots) July 17, 2026
They withheld rent for 8 months and weren't evicted. I don't see how this means the landlord has all the power and exploits them. It seems the other way around
This theory is essentially, "someone should buy a home for me and let me live in it absolutely free." How does that make sense to these people. It is like universal squatting.
— Gerd Hansma (@gmanndo) July 17, 2026
They live under this bizarre illusion that the government produces money and should therefore provide for them. Because they don’t produce anything, they have no concept of value. No concept of the value of holding onto what you’ve earned. Just moronic.
— ohmyword (@kapease) July 17, 2026
This parasite lunatics agree to pay rent, then decide they would have a “liberatory” experience. The building owner does not have the same “liberatory” experience while footing the bill for lazy freeloaders.
— KJ (@SnayburtJames) July 17, 2026
You signed the lease.
— Ted S (@ClearReason) July 17, 2026
Paying the rent you agreed to isn’t oppression.
Forcing someone else to subsidize your life isn’t liberation. It’s entitlement.
To summarize, "I want to live on your property for free"
— DrStrangelove (@DrStrangelove57) July 17, 2026
Not only do I want to, but I also have the right to. Housing is a human right, as they like to claim. What's scary is she keeps referring to "the movement"—more and more DSA nuts are buying into this "abolish rent" idea.
***