I forgot that John Oliver is finally an American citizen! He went through an extended, years-long naturalization process even though he’s married to an American and his son is an American. He became a citizen in December of last year, so the 2020 Election was his first time voting in a general election in America. He told Stephen Colbert that he came close to tears:
“Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver talked to fellow late-night comedian Stephen Colbert Monday about voting for the first time as a U.S. citizen and revealed he got choked up in the voting booth.
“Honestly, it was amazing,” Oliver told his fellow “Daily Show” alum. “As an immigrant who had just got his citizenship in December of last year, I was waiting for that to feel real. When you worry about your immigration status all the time, even getting your passport still doesn’t feel real because you haven’t tested it against a system.”
Oliver moved to the U.S. from England in 2006, was approved for U.S. residency (a green card) in 2009 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen last December. The Emmy winner’s journey through the citizenship process has been a long one, but it has also provided him with plenty of comedic fodder.
On Monday’s “The Late Show,” the comedian opened up with sincerity about being nearly moved to tears while casting his ballot for this year’s presidential election.
“Standing in line, I thought maybe this would be it, and I didn’t feel it,” Oliver told Colbert. “Giving them my name and getting the ballot, I didn’t feel it. Scanning it into the machine and the machine saying, ‘Your vote has been counted,’ I nearly burst into tears. That is the truth. My eyes got misty and I thought, ‘I don’t know if I can cry in a voting station.’”
The political commentator said he waited for an hour and a half at his polling place in New York City. He pointed out how, in countries like his native England, long lines to vote are never the norm.
“I think lines have been normalized in America. I think you think that everyone else stands in line for hours. They don’t,” Oliver told Colbert. “That you have to stand in line for that long is an absolute disgrace, wherever you are. Nobody else has to stand in line for seven, nine, 11 hours, whatever you’re hearing about. It’s absurd.”
He’s absolutely right about the lines, although to be fair, I think the pandemic has completely changed the way America will do elections in the future. So many states will be more reliant on absentee ballots, and so many states will do more to encourage early voting polling stations for weeks before Election Day. This year, there weren’t *that* many stories of crazy-long lines or crazy-long waits. But Oliver is right, it doesn’t have to be this way at all. As of Oliver becoming a naturalized citizen and voting for the first time… I love naturalization stories and I love “first-time voting” stories. They’re all so patriotic, and now I feel like I’m going to cry too!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
The husband of one of my friends became a US citizen in 2016, the day before voting registration closed in their home state. The entire group of new citizens walked across the street together, from the Federal Courthouse to the County Offices, to register to vote.
That’s my favorite new citizen story.
Voting in the UK for 17+ years, there has pretty much always been a polling station 5 mins walk away from where I live, and have never had to wait more than a couple of minutes.
❤️❤️❤️
He was so genuinely adorable telling that story. Colbert said something like, “Of course you don’t understand lines…what about queues? Queues?? You stand in queues!” (or something to that affect).
John is the highlight of Sunday night. I so look forward to listening to his take on things. He is whip smart and SO funny!
He and Colbert look like they are genuinely having fun when they talk. I lOVE J.O.!
I’ve loved JO since his days on The Daily Show and I never miss Last Week Tonight. His coverage of, well, just about anything is a perfect blend of humor, humanity, and incredible insight. His self deprecating humor never fails to make me laugh, and the stories he highlights are always interesting and informative. And I have to admit I have a little crush on him to boot 😉
Yes, he seems like a genuinely good person.
And I love the stuff he makes HBO pay for 😀
I love all of John Oliver and Stephen Colbert’s interviews and this one is just delightful.
For an emotionally repressed British man, John Oliver gives a good interview in general (check out his interviews with Russell Howard, they’re the best.)
I really like John Oliver’s show, because there are some jokes he makes that like…aren’t clever? They’re just dumb in a sarcastic way and that really speaks to me. Like there was one about how some Taliban leader had died, but the Taliban didn’t tell anyone, and he quipped that they’d been Weekend and Bernies-ing him for months.
He’s also talked about the anxiety he felt about his immigration status before, so this must have been a big deal for him. Wow, England stays losing, doesn’t it? Americans get Prince Harry and John Oliver. Meanwhile, they get Benedict Arnold, and New York City born Boris Johnson who do the reverse trip across the pond (no take backs allowed btw sorry not sorry).
I love to vote, it really does make me emotional, and I’ve been voting consistently since I was 18. But every time I get so excited about it.
That is beautiful.
I also think states should normalize mailed ballots (and count them as they come in!) – Colorado has done it for a long time and it WORKS! So easy. No lines. Emails to tell you when the ballot has been mailed to you, and an email to tell you that your ballot has been accepted – OR – if there is some issue with it not being accepted, and how to fix it.
Yup, that’s how we do it in WA too. Im 33 and it’s the only way I have ever voted.