Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Responds to Claim She Used 'Fake' Accent: 'I am from the Bronx. I Act & Talk Like It'

New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke Friday at the National Action Network convention, and for all the praise she received for her message about taking pride in your work, she drew an equal amount of criticism for her accent.

Ocasio-Cortez, a first-term Democrat from the Bronx, offered a message to the working class through her speech, stressing that any work is good work. She reflected upon her days as a "proud" bartender, about which she declared, "ain't nothing wrong with that."

"There's nothing wrong with working retail, folding clothes for other people to buy," Ocasio-Cortez said. "There is nothing wrong with preparing the food that your neighbors will eat. There is nothing wrong with driving the buses that take your family to work. There is nothing wrong with being a working person in the United States of America and there is everything dignified about it."

It wasn't her pitch itself that got people on social media stirred up about the speech, but rather the delivery. A number of critics of the congresswoman claimed Ocasio-Cortez was using a "fake African American accent" or faux "Southern accent" at the convention, which reportedly had an audience made up largely of African Americans.

Ocasio-Cortez snapped back on Twitter Friday before the sun set in New York.

"As much as the right wants to distort & deflect, I am from the Bronx. I act & talk like it, *especially* when I'm fired up and especially when I'm home," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "It is so hurtful to see how every aspect of my life is weaponized against me, yet somehow asserted as false at the same time."

"Folks talking about my voice can step right off. Women's March & Kavanaugh speech, same. Any kid who grew up in a distinct linguistic culture & had to learn to navigate class enviros at school/work knows what's up. My Spanish is the same way. These conspiracy mills are [trash]."

Before the congresswoman defended herself, Twitter users aired their opinions.

The National Action Network was formed by Rev. Al Sharpton in 1991 to "promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency and equal opportunities for all people," according to its website.

Ocasio-Cortez's bartender comment follows a remark that President Donald Trump made earlier this week in reference to the Democrats' proposed Green New Deal, a sweeping climate change and social justice and jobs bill the young representative sponsored in the House.

"The Green New Deal done by a young bartender, 29 years old," President said at a fundraiser on Tuesday. "A young bartender, wonderful young woman, the Green New Deal. The first time I heard it I said, 'That's the craziest thing'"

The president asked Republicans to keep the Green New Deal alive and not squash it so he can run against it during a reelection campaign in 2020.