  For II$_1$ factors, we show that property (T) is equivalent to weak spectral
gap in any inclusion into a larger tracial von Neumann algebra. We also show
that not having non-zero almost central vectors in weakly mixing bimodules
characterizes property (T) for II$_1$ factors, which allows us to obtain a
stronger characterization of property (T) where only weak spectral gap in any
irreducible inclusion is required.
