Ronny Chieng (performing a bit)

So just going off of history and past evidence, which is all I kind of have to go by right now, is that kind of... You know, for me, that's kind of a sign of how it's going to be, you know, what his bluster versus his actual actions. I reserve the right to change my opinion if we all end up in jail. If we all end up in jail, then I will probably be wrong.

But maybe I'm just this is just wishful thinking on my part. But yeah. Yeah, he said a lot of concerning things about the law. But I think ultimately, I believe in American institutions. I believe in checks and balances.

You know, I believe that the entire founding of America was geared around having a weak federal executive who is unable to kind of use the government to go after citizens individually. I think that's the whole premise of America. And so because of that, I'm a bit more hopeful.

I hope I'm right, too. By the way, what do I know? I'm just a comic, just making dick jokes. But that's what I hope and that's what I believe. And that's why I'm still here.

So I guess American democracy still works as long as the guy who likes overthrowing the government wins the election because then he won't overthrow the government. So with the transfer happening, we're going to be talking about Trump again every day for another four years, I guess.

And I, for one, did not think that when I came out of the jungles of Malaysia to do comedy that I would be making jokes about Donald Trump every day for 13 years straight. 13 years. I don't talk about anybody as much. I don't talk about my mom as much as I talk about this guy. I don't talk about my wife as much as I talk about this guy. Yo, my wife thinks I'm having an emotional affair with him.

I'm going to be talking about this guy on my f***ing deathbed, okay? Which I assume will be in three years when he somehow brings back the bubonic plague. And you might be sitting at home saying, well, Ronnie, why don't you just shut the f*** up about Trump? Well, for the same reason CNN doesn't shut the up about him. Money.

Lots and lots of money. So let's get these dollars right now and get back to Donald Trump.

Partially. There's some truth to that.

Extremely surprised. Because we weren't necessarily friends. He was obviously much more successful than me in the festival circuit. So we rarely crossed paths. And I ended up performing with him for the first time in Canada, just for laughs, in Montreal. And that's when he... was very friendly to me at the show. He was very complimentary. He said, it's great. You know, what you're doing is great.

And, um, I said, oh, thanks so much. I didn't think too much about it. Right. And then, uh, maybe two years later, I get this email to audition for the daily show. And I was like, it was like a dream come true. I couldn't believe it, you know? And so, uh, I still remember doing the audition in my apartment in Melbourne. And, um,

sending it in and then getting the call back to come to New York City and audition for The Daily Show in New York City, which was obviously, you know, a huge deal if you're coming from Australia. And so, no, I did not expect to get it at all. It was very much him who put the spotlight on me, as in The Daily Show would never have found me if not for Trevor insisting that I get on.

And again, I'm not his closest friend, you know. I don't even think I'm his funniest friend. He just really was adamant that... he wanted an Asian person on the show because he felt that Asian people are like half of the world's population, but there's no presence on The Daily Show. And I guess at that time, he was thinking of a more international show, right?

So he wanted someone who could talk to these issues. So I'm just lucky that I was the recipient of his search. You know, it could have been anybody.

Very familiar. I've been following U.S. politics since the West Wing came out, was watching it religiously, and then started, you know, always reading about U.S. presidential history. I'm a U.S. president nerd. And The Daily Show, we were watching it as soon as we were able to illegally download it in Australia. We would torrent, like, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and watch it.

So I'm a huge fan. I was watching all the time.

Yes.

Yes, there's a photo of me standing there not knowing what to do. I was in the studio right next to him. But obviously off his camera. But there was a camera on me because I was doing a segment with him, as you said. And then we finished the segment. And then usually he says, okay, everybody, Roy Chang, everybody. And then everyone applauds and I leave the studio. But he didn't do that this time.

He explained why he was leaving the show on air. And no sign of it. There was no sign. I didn't know he was doing that.

I don't know. He's a very smart guy and I trust his judgment on everything. And I'm sure he had his reasons, you know, and I can't speak to them, but I'm sure he had his reasons to do it because it seems like a pretty extreme thing to do.