J. Marc Wheat is general counsel at Advancing American Freedom. He previously worked as counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and as staff director and chief counsel to the House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources. He holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from Scalia Law School.
Role at the time: General counsel, Advancing American Freedom (op-ed co-authored with research assistant Davison Drumm)
Condemned
Statement summary
Advancing American Freedom's J. Marc Wheat and Davison Drumm wrote in a Washington Examiner op-ed that New York City official Cea Weaver has said she would like to "seize private property" and that she claimed homeownership "is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as 'wealth building' public policy." They present her as an example of Democratic Socialists of America disdain for private property and argue that the Supreme Court should restore property rights.
“The DSA, exemplified by Weaver, has not been shy in its disdain for private property and "ESPECIALLY homeownership," which she claimed "is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as 'wealth building' public policy."”
Wheat and Drumm present Weaver's remarks as an example of Democratic Socialists of America disdain for private property and criticize those remarks as part of a broader property-rights argument.
A deleted November 2018 post attributed to Cea Weaver said, “Impoverish the white middle class. Homeownership is racist / failed public policy.” Critics called it racist or disqualifying; defenders cited her tenant advocacy. Weaver expressed regret for some old wording without specifically retracting this sentence.
