Trey Parker and Matt Stone aren’t pulling punches. The creators of South Park returned for the animated show’s 27th season with a scorched-earth takedown of Donald Trump, their own corporate bosses at Paramount, and the media landscape at large.
Airing just hours after Paramount announced a $1.5 billion renewal deal with the duo, the episode, titled “Sermon on the ‘Mount,” is less a comeback and more a satirical firestorm aimed at everyone from Jesus to the FCC.
Trump, Satan, and South Park
The episode kicks off with Trump, crudely animated using real photos, literally in bed with Satan, echoing the show’s 1999 depiction of Saddam Hussein. Satan even remarks, “You’re just like Saddam,” underlining the creators’ not-so-subtle point.
Trump is portrayed as a lawsuit-happy authoritarian, suing the town of South Park for $5 billion after parents protest his push to install Christian teachings, and a physical Jesus, into their children’s school. When Jesus shows up at a town protest, he admits he’s only there because “it was part of a lawsuit and the agreement with Paramount.”
“You saw what happened to CBS? Guess who owns CBS? Paramount,” Jesus says through gritted teeth. “Do you want to end up like Colbert?”
The Colbert Cancellation Conspiracy
The episode doesn’t shy away from the timing of Stephen Colbert’s Late Show cancellation, an event that, while publicly attributed to budget cuts, has sparked speculation that it was political. Colbert, a vocal critic of Trump, was axed shortly after Paramount paid $16 million to settle with the former president over a 60 Minutes interview he claimed was deceptively edited.
In the episode, fictional 60 Minutes anchors nervously report on the town’s turmoil, praising Trump mid-broadcast like they’re afraid of triggering another lawsuit. “He’s a great man,” one anchor stammers. “We know he’s probably watching.”
A Corporate Parody With Real Stakes
All this satire comes as Paramount prepares for a high-stakes merger with Skydance Media, a deal that must be greenlit by a Trump-appointed FCC. The show pokes fun at the tension by including FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who in real life said he doesn’t watch South Park but believes a handful of media companies shouldn’t “control the narrative.”
The episode ends with the town agreeing to pro-Trump messaging in a legal settlement, cutting to a bizarre, AI-style PSA of a nude Trump crawling through the desert.
White House Fires Back
The White House wasted no time issuing a response to the episode. Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers dismissed the show as “fourth-rate” and “desperate for attention.”
“This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years,” she said, “and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas. President Trump has delivered on more promises in six months than any other president in history. and no cartoon can derail that.”
Rogers also criticized the left for what she described as hypocrisy: “For years they’ve attacked South Park for being offensive. Now they celebrate it? Pick a side.”
A New Era of South Park?
Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, South Park seems poised for another headline-grabbing run. The new five-year deal with Paramount calls for 50 more episodes, virtually guaranteeing that Parker and Stone will keep poking the bear, even if the bear is their own network.
If the premiere is any indication, the creators aren’t shying away from controversy, they’re embracing it, flamethrowers and all.
