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![Navied Mahdavian comic about moving to the U.K. but not escaping U.S. politics. I moved to the U.K. in April](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8a9d2a7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2442x3256+0+0/resize/2000x2667!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F34%2F7d%2Fb9cfc59f4328bf51a29c2470e975%2Fla-oe-mahdavian-uk1-copy.jpg)
![I decided to move because of issues in the US that didn't feel like they would ever be resolved](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3e63a1d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2429x3239+0+0/resize/2000x2667!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F82%2Fd6%2F3560c0d04b16a99f0c2bf19be966%2Fla-oe-mahdavian-uk2-copy.jpg)
![Checking the news as a foreigner felt liberating](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d459094/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2399x3199+0+0/resize/2000x2667!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F39%2F0b%2Ffdf6f6b741218d76017b335e1927%2Fla-oe-mahdavian-uk3-copy.jpg)
![In the states I would check the news first thing in the morning and right before bed](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c672ed1/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2389x3185+0+0/resize/2000x2666!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F85%2F42%2Fff4c564e469588f82f020d802776%2Fla-oe-mahdavian-uk4-copy.jpg)
![When I followed the U.K. elections, it felt like something in the background, a pleasant hum.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/50d2e91/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2374x3165+0+0/resize/2000x2666!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fea%2F0f%2Fe45c360d487f9602c3fdabf48272%2Fla-oe-mahdavian-uk5-copy.jpg)
![I could never escape U.S. politics. It was all over my social media.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/034c592/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2334x3112+0+0/resize/2000x2667!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F48%2Fed%2Fb27fef7949e09f63e9f7c447148e%2Fla-oe-mahdavian-uk6-copy.jpg)
![Because I'm American, someone would always ask me what I thought of Donald Trump](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8588fc2/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2428x3237+0+0/resize/2000x2666!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F01%2F93%2F96319a834e3da4b0357c8a1d22bf%2Fla-oe-mahdavian-uk7-copy.jpg)
![What happens in the U.S. affects the rest of the world.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c250644/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2410x3213+0+0/resize/2000x2666!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Feb%2F6d%2Ffe875f414df588db7a147a4b1e64%2Fla-oe-mahdavian-uk8-copy.jpg)
![I'm an American, and I care about what happens in my country. No matter my zip code or post code](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/05aea0c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2406x3208+0+0/resize/2000x2667!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F16%2Fcf%2F8e878b0b4735a75d272fddfc39ee%2Fla-oe-mahdavian-uk9-copy.jpg)
Navied Mahdavian is a cartoonist and writer. He is a contributor to the New Yorker and author of the graphic memoir “This Country: Searching for Home in (Very) Rural America.”
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