Gov. Ron DeSantis criticizes Zohran Mamdani Rental Ripoff event

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took aim at NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Rental Ripoff event this week after a speaker at the event referred to eviction as violence.

Since Mamdani’s inauguration, Republicans across the country have taken political jabs at the mayor and his policies.

Here’s what to know.

DeSantis criticizes Mamdani’s meeting on updated rental response strategies for New York City

This week, Mamdani held a news conference in which he released a “Rental Ripoff” report after tenants from across the city aired their grievances with landlords in multiple hearings earlier this year.

In the presser, the mayor released some updated strategies for how city agencies can handle landlord and apartment complaint calls alongside some of the most common problems tenants mentioned, such as pests, mold and heat complaints.

One speaker at the event, a member of a tenant’s union, sparked backlash over statements they made.

“Our city is turning the corner on tenant power,” the member said during the event. “The Mamdani administration is emboldening us so that we no longer tolerate the violence of evictions as a matter of business as usual.”

In response to the comment of calling eviction violence, DeSantis wrote on X: “Theater of the absurd.”

Neither the union nor the mayor’s office immediately responded to a request for comment.

This is not the first time Republicans have taken aim at the city’s way of governing under Mamdani. During a historic heat wave, the mayor posted to X asking residents to not overstrain the power grid by setting their AC to 78 degrees. Recent guidance from the Department of Energy suggests starting at 75 to 78 degrees for air conditioning, and increasing that number if no one is home.

A large wave of Republicans responded after the post, with many saying that socialism was at fault for the request.

“Welcome to socialism,” Nikki Haley, a former candidate for president, tweeted.

Ted Cruz, a senator in Texas, joked that “In a first-world country, you could turn on the A/C.” A community note was added to the post that indicated Texas has also asked residents to turn their AC units to 78 degrees in the past.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gov. Ron DeSantis criticizes Zohran Mamdani Rental Ripoff event