South Park paints you as a n-de, delusional man wandering the woods with Satan, it’s safe to say the satire scalpel has struck. That’s precisely what Donald Trump endured in the Season 27 premiere of the long-running animated series. Sources say the president was “seething.” But will Trump strike back? Can he? And more importantly, should he?
While Trump has aimed late-night critics like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon (recently declaring in a press briefing that they “have no talent” and hinting they could be next to disappear), South Park remains untouched for now.
“I’m sure Trump could move some mountains to damage the South Park name and potentially get it cancelled,” said Adrienne Uthe, founder and strategic advisor at Kronus Communications, in an interview with the Irish Star.
But Uthe believes he probably won’t. “It wouldn’t be a good look. (…) You’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself, and needing to silence voices only shows weakness in this instance. South Park is consistent in that they make fun of everyone — let them cook.”
Donald Trump’s latest meltdown reportedly stemmed from South Park’s premiere episode titled “Sermon on the Mount.”
The savage half-hour lampooned the president with a particularly surreal sequence: a n-ked Trump stumbling through a forest with Satan as his reluctant guide. If that wasn’t enough, the episode included an AI-generated PSA that comically praised Donald Trump while also mocking his physique and legal quagmire.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who’ve helmed the irreverent show since 1997, didn’t back down when asked about the blowback during San Diego Comic-Con. Their response? A deadpan “We’re terribly sorry,” which was dripping with sarcasm and perfectly on-brand for two men who’ve never met a sacred cow they didn’t grill.
White House insiders weren’t amused.
One source told Deadline that the president was furious and called the episode “childish” and “vulgar,” while also noting that the White House had even received a warning about the episode’s contents. It was possibly due to South Park’s ties to Paramount+, which is involved in the pending $8 billion Skydance-Paramount merger awaiting FCC approval.
Paramount has officially agreed to merge with Skydance. pic.twitter.com/8OavnXeLTz
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 8, 2024
As Trump continues to hint that more shows could be in danger (especially ones that mock him), fans are watching closely.
The recent surprise cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert sparked rumors that politics, not just ratings, were at play.
CBS exec George Cheeks tried to douse the flames, saying: “The challenge in late night is that the advertising marketplace is in significant secular decline.” But that didn’t fly with fans on social media.
One user on X (formerly Twitter) posted: “He mentions Colbert has better ratings than Kimmel or Fallon… and yet Colbert gets canned because of ‘his ratings’ and not the fact that he called the network out for paying a bribe to Trump in a baseless lawsuit.”
The lawsuit they’re referring to? In July, CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, agreed to settle a $16 million lawsuit with Trump over a 60 Minutes segment featuring ex-US Vice President Kamala Harris. The timing (plus the Colbert cancellation) is suspicious.
🚨BREAKING: After CBS’s 60 Minutes posted the unedited version of its October interview with Kamala Harris online, President Trump has doubled the value of his lawsuit against them from $10 billion to $20 billion.
CBS is cooked! 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/rRI8qruI1N
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) February 9, 2025
Still, South Park as a cultural institution is ruthlessly bipartisan in its mockery.
Whether you’re Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, or Donald Trump, South Park is an equal-opportunity offender. And despite his paper-thin skin, Trump might know that silencing South Park would only bolster its legend.
As one user on X summed up: “I’ve never heard a President so intent on trashing people in entertainment! What is his problem?”
