It's because she is a rockstar! Here's her interview with cohen:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD2hD_PZlZ8

Instead of grandstanding like every single other congressman there, she kept her points sharp and nailed trump of insurance fraud and tax evasion. She's not just another run of the mill politician.

Instead of grandstanding, she just put her boyfriend on tax-funded payroll.

Totally not a typical politician.

Whataboutism.

I was remarking to my lunch companion, who referred to AOC, that John Fitgerald Kennedy must have been in the House for at least a couple of terms before the expression JFK became current.

It seems that progressives tend to be much more willing to turn their group members into celebrities than the other political factions. (Obviously I have no data to back this up, and can be convinced otherwise if someone more knowledgeable than me can produce that data.)