How to iterate through a list and search for a value

[fad3r]

Hi everyone,
First time poster here. Been studying python about 2 weeks now.

I am trying to loop through a list to check if a certain value is in it. The value will be random but will always contain a * at the front.

Here is the code I am using to loop through:

for x in stringsplit:
    if x = \*:
    print (x)

I am getting this error from python: SyntaxError: invalid syntax
And pycharm tells me there is a : expected in the if statement even though it already has one.

I feel like in other languages I would use a contains function but this does not exist in python.

I have spent around 3-4 hours searching the web and I have come back with nothing.

Help appreciated.