Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Gives Testy Response to Aaron Sorkin's Call for New Democrats to 'Grow Up'

New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has hit back at Aaron Sorkin after he complained her freshman class were "acting like young people."

The West Wing creator and writer of The Social Network, 57, said he liked the "new crop" of Democratic representatives Sunday on CNN, but added, "It's not just about transgender bathrooms."

Read more: Ocasio-Cortez defiant in the face of right wing media: I could have let them tear me to shreds

"I think that there's a great opportunity here, now more than ever, for Democrats to be the non-stupid party, to point out the difference," the Acadamy Award-winning writer told Fareed Zakaria in response to a question about the way Democrats speak in public, and if he should help them craft speeches.

Topics like transgender bathrooms, Sorkin said, were "a Republican talking point they're trying to distract you with."

He argued Democrats needed to remind voters "that we haven't forgotten the economic anxiety of the middle class."

Ocasio-Cortez shared a clip of Sorkin's interview on Twitter with the caption: "News Flash: Medicare for All & equal rights aren't trends."

Elections see low turnout in some demographics when certain groups "don't see you fighting for them," she added. "If we don't show up for people, why should you feel entitled to their vote?"

Ocasio-Cortez delved further into Sorkin's remarks in a Twitter exchange with LGBTQ activist and writer Charlotte Clymer, in which the pair questioned his motivation for using the bathroom example.

"Is Aaron Sorkin implying here that transgender rights are a distraction? Because it seems to me he's saying that," Clymer initially tweeted, before suggesting the writer was seeking "gravitas" over "substance" in elected officials.

"Let's dig into 'gravitas,' because it's an ambiguous word, selectively applied," Ocasio-Cortez responded. "Ever wonder how expression that's feminine, working-class, queer, or POC isn't deemed as having 'gravitas', but talking like an Aaron Sorkin character does? Men have 'gravitas,' women get 'likeable.'"

"We wouldn't need to talk about bathrooms at all if we acted like adults, washed our hands and minded our own business instead of trying to clock others," she wrote in a subsequent tweet. "Going by track record, I'd feel safer in a bathroom w/ a trans woman than a powerful male executive any day of the week."

Ocasio-Cortez used the incident to draw attention to a fundraiser for transgender help group Mermaids. The event saw Youtuber Harry "HBomberGuy" Brewis raise more than $340,000 for the charity while livestreaming his attempt to complete Donkey Kong 64 on the Twitch platform.