Ronny Chieng, a Malaysian-born comedian and correspondent on The Daily Show, recently became a U.S. citizen, an experience he humorously compared to joining an 'evil empire.' Moving to the U.S. in 2015, he has spent nearly 30 years longing for America, pursuing comedy despite being hesitant about international gigs due to uncertainty of re-entry. He stresses the conflicting emotions of joining a nation known for its cultural exports while grappling with its problematic global image, particularly during the Trump era, which has shaped his entire experience in American comedy.
It's kind of 30 years in the making, in the sense that I've been trying to come back to America since I left in '93 when I was seven years old.
It's a weird time to do it, because it was America's cultural exports that attracted him, not things like the Iraq War.
I came [to Comedy Central] at the end of 2015, so this Trump thing is all I've known. This isn't that new, to be honest.
His second term has been outlandish and likened covering it to being in a car wreck every day.
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