Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been in the spotlight lately. First, because the 28-year-old seemingly came out of nowhere in the June primary to upset a 10-term incumbent Democrat in a New York congressional district that includes parts of the Bronx and Queens.

Second, because she is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Third, because just a year ago she was a bartender, and was nowhere near the political machine. All this has attention has been mostly positive, but now the spotlight is getting harsher.

Ocasio-Cortez was recently criticized for holding town hall meetings in NYC that barred the press. She banned media from attending two of her “listening tours” in the Bronx and in Corona, Queens, according to the Queens Chronicle.

“Our community is 50 percent immigrant. Folks are victims of (domestic violence), trafficking, (and) have personal medical issues,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter, explaining why the media was excluded from her Corona town hall. “This town hall was designed for residents to feel safe discussing sensitive issues in a threatening political time.”

Now people are questioning her recent trip to Los Angeles. She failed to meet with traditional heavyweight Democratic supporters. There were no meetings with Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, or even Haim Saban.

“None of our clients are meeting with her,” said Marie Lloyd of consultancy Gonring, Spahn & Associates, which counts Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg as clients, according to the Hollywood Reporter. She didn’t even plan a meeting with L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who happened to be out of town. One political observer noted: “Eric is considered part of the establishment and ­Ocasio-Cortez is not going to want to cozy up to them.”

“The far-left candidate will instead appear at a downtown event for Occupy ICE LA, for which tickets are $27 a pop,” Page Six reported. This is a far cry for the thousands-of-dollars dinner tickets many donors pay when Dems hit up Hollywood for support.

One ­Ocasio-Cortez fundraiser was a downtown luncheon named “Coast-To-Coast Revolution” was sold out, according to event organizers. Her second fundraiser in L.A. was scheduled to take place inside a Koreatown house of worship that “seeks to establish economic and social justice for the church’s neighborhood and the world,” Page Six reported.  The event, sponsored by the Democratic Socialists of America Los Angeles Chapter, was also sold out.

Ocasio-Cortez plans to return to Los Angeles next month to participate in the second annual Left-Coast Forum, where she is scheduled to be a keynote speaker along with Dr. Melina Abdullah, lead organizer for the L.A. chapter of Black Lives Matter; and Eric Mann, a former Weather Underground radical who has spent several years organizing students enrolled in L.A.’s public school system, Daily Wire reported.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's L.A. fundraisers were more about raising consciousness than money https://t.co/3914VIykum

— #ProgressiveParty (@GottaBernNow) August 8, 2018