Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — the New York-based Congressional nominee poised to make history this November by becoming the youngest woman ever elected to the House — has come under fire for barring the media from a public town hall this past Sunday. Now, her defense has prompted even more head-scratching from critics.

The political wunderkind, who has gained national notoriety for her stunning primary win over longtime Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), took to Twitter Friday afternoon to say that she wanted to provide a forum for local residents “to feel safe discussing sensitive issues in a threatening political time.”

Our community is 50% immigrant. Folks are victims of DV, trafficking, + have personal medical issues. This town hall was designed for residents to feel safe discussing sensitive issues in a threatening political time. We indicated previously that it would be closed to press. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) August 17, 2018

Additionally, with this town hall non-story: it was designed to protect + invite vulnerable populations to PUBLIC discourse: immigrants, victims of domestic abuse, and so on. We indicated previously that the event would be closed to press. Future ones are open. — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) August 17, 2018

But the comments drew even more flak from a number of prominent reporters:

And how does the presence of reporters make people feel unsafe? — Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) August 17, 2018

Not sure this holds up. Press banned to make voters more comfortable, except anyone could have walked in as long as they claimed to be a future constituent – unless all attendees had their backgrounds were vetted. Which means it wasn’t ‘open to the public.’ => https://t.co/jDR6j1Yaes — David M. Drucker (@DavidMDrucker) August 17, 2018

You cannot ban members of the press from events that are otherwise open to the public. That is not how it works. Period. https://t.co/sqe9HWTEEb — Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) August 17, 2018

If it’s not open to the press it’s not a public event. It’s a private one. That’s fine, just don’t pretend it’s a public event when it most certainly is not. https://t.co/LI1lCZTUs4 — Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) August 17, 2018

It’s really quite condescending to call it a non-story @Ocasio2018 – it’s very simple, if you wanted a private event, keep it private. But you chose to ban the press from a public event. https://t.co/12qFq5ihjo — Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) August 17, 2018

Every politician in NYC holds constant events in immigrant communities and has done so since the dawn of time, the press covering these forums is totally normal. https://t.co/pyK7mf5JbC — Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) August 17, 2018

Calling a legitimate story (reporting on a campaign’s barring of press at an otherwise public event because the campaign felt it would be a distraction) a “non-story” is not a good look. https://t.co/VhYfr7y5BC https://t.co/GKS33R2Anh — Ali Rogin (@AliABCNews) August 17, 2018

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