She also took aim at people who use memes to criticize her, saying that their efforts are "so weak."
Ocasio-Cortez was asked on Showtime's "Desus & Mero" show whether she ever regretted entering politics because of attacks from "Twitter trolls" and "Russia bots."
She replied: "No. no. I mean, its heavy. But in a weird way that stuff is validation that youre doing something real." She was speaking on the show with comedy duo Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, who are also Bronx natives.
Ocasio-Cortez continued: "Because if youre just flying under the radar, just trying to get your check, like not rock the boat, then whats the point in being in politics?
"Like what is the point in doing things if youre just trying to maintain a status quo that doesnt help people?"
As well as broadly dismissing the effect of Twitter criticism, Ocasio-Cortez also took aim at her critics' meme skills, describing the efforts she sees in her timeline as "so weak."
She asked: "How do you have a computer that runs both Windows 95 and Twitter at the same time?"
Ocasio-Cortez's stratospheric political rise has earned her many fans on the left and detractors on the right.
She has previously said the volume of criticism she gets is a sign that her detractors are afraid of her message.
In February, she said that Trump's criticism of socialism during his State of the Union address was evidence that he was "scared" of her popularity.