‘South Park’ Creator Explain Why Trump and MAGA Are Center Stage in Latest Seasons
The latest seasons of South Park have focused heavily on Donald Trump and his supporters, turning the show into a sharp voice of political satire.
Once known for the crude adventures of four boys in a small Colorado town, the show has found new relevance nearly 30 years after its debut.
According to Nielsen, viewership over the past four months has more than doubled compared to 2023, the last year a new season aired. The show has become so popular that even minor schedule changes are being reported by entertainment websites.
The timing of this political focus is notable. Paramount, the parent company of Comedy Central, recently changed ownership in ways that seemed to favor Trump. The comedy world has also been in turmoil, with Paramount canceling Stephen Colbert’s late-night show after this season and Disney temporarily taking Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air in September following pressure from a top Trump administration official.
In an interview with NYT, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone explained why Trump and MAGA remain targets. “It’s not that we got all political. It’s that politics became pop culture. There’s no getting away from this … It’s like the government is just in your face everywhere you look,” they said.
They added, “Whether it’s the actual government or whether it is all the podcasters and the TikToks and the YouTubers and all of that, and it’s just all political and political because it’s more than political. It’s pop culture.”
Parker and Stone emphasized that their satire aims to stay balanced. “We’re just very down-the-middle guys. Any extremists of any kind we make fun of. We did it for years with the woke thing. That was hilarious to us. And this is hilarious to us,” they said.
Looking ahead, they noted that the current focus is temporary. “You know, next year will be different. If there’s one thing we know, it is that our show will be a lot longer than [Trump’s administration]. So, we just got to do this for now,” they added.
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