Jon Stewart has reacted to news that Faiza Shaheen has not been endorsed by the Labour Party for liking one of his videos that allegedly downplayed antisemitism accusations.
Ms Shaheen, who narrowly lost to Sir Iain Duncan Smith in the same seat at the 2019 election, told BBC Newsnight she “thought” she was going to be the candidate for the constituency, but got an email on Wednesday evening that she said claimed she would “frustrate Labour’s purpose”.
The programme heard she was called to a meeting with a panel of Labour’s National Executive Committee on Tuesday in which they highlighted posts which raised questions about her suitability as a candidate.
One post said: “Every time you say something even mildly critical of Israel, you’re immediately assailed by scores of hysterical people who explain to you why you’re completely wrong, how you’re biased against Israel.
“Moreover, you can’t easily ignore them because those are not just random people. They tend to be friends or people who move in the same circles as you. Those people are mobilised by professional organisations.”
It is believed that another is this clip from John Stewart which aired on The Daily Show in the US.
Stewart was alerted to news of Labour’s decision by Mehdi Hasan, prompting him to reply:
“This is the dumbest thing The UK has done since electing Boris Johnson…what the actual fuck…”
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