Britain’s AOC Faiza Shaheen Banned From Election Over Jon Stewart Sketch Tweet

A political candidate running in Britain’s general election appears to have been dropped by the Labour Party over her activity on social media, with one of her alleged transgressions relating to a like on a post containing a Jon Stewart sketch—prompting the comedian to weigh in in her defense on Wednesday night.

Faiza Shaheen, a socialist academic who has been likened in the U.K. media to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has been banned from standing for Labour to contest a parliamentary seat in London, a party source told The Evening Standard. Her reported ouster comes as Labour—which is widely expected to defeat the ruling Conservatives in the July 4 election—continues to try and convince the electorate it has transformed since the departure of its former leader Jeremy Corbyn whose tenure was mired by allegations of antisemitism within the party. People on the left of the party have described it as a purge.

The row involving Shaheen began with reports in Britain’s rightwing press alleging that she had liked a post on X which said that anyone who said anything “even mildly critical of Israel” is “immediately assailed by scores of hysterical people” who will make claims of antisemitism. The post also said such people are “mobilized by professional organizations” and talked about “the Israel lobby.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.