The creators of South Park never intended to make politics the central focus of their latest seasons, but according to a revealing New York Times interview, Donald Trump's overwhelming presence in American culture left them no choice.
When Politics Becomes Pop Culture
Matt Stone and Trey Parker explained that despite deliberately delaying their 27th season to avoid the 2024 election chaos, they found themselves irresistibly drawn to satirizing the MAGA universe when the show returned this summer after a two-year break. "It's pop culture. It's not that we got all political. It's that politics became pop culture," Parker told the Times.
The creators described being particularly attracted to what they called "new taboos" surrounding criticism of Trump, comparing their fascination to "flies to honey." This magnetic pull toward political satire occurred even as Paramount, their network home, was navigating a proposed merger with Skydance that required maintaining positive relations with the White House.
A Billion-Dollar Declaration of Independence
In a bold move that demonstrated their creative freedom, Stone and Parker decided that focusing their first episode on Trump would "show our independence somehow." This declaration came mere hours after they signed a massive five-year, $1.25 billion contract with Paramount.
The season premiere mocked the dramatic shift from President Joe Biden's identity-focused politics to life in Trump's America. Parker described their approach as politically neutral: "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."
Ratings Boom and Satan's Pregnancy
The Trump-focused storylines have proven enormously successful for the long-running animated series. According to Nielsen data, viewership has doubled compared to the show's 2023 numbers.
Seasons 27 and 28 have featured absurd plotlines anchored in Trump's relationship with a brawny yet sensitive Satan, who becomes pregnant with the president's child. The creators found no shortage of material in what they described as the "horrors and absurdities" of Trump's second term.
Despite White House representatives dismissing the show's Trump focus as a "desperate attempt for attention," Parker and Stone maintain that South Park doesn't need political chaos to remain relevant. They plan to move on from MAGA-themed content once they grow tired of it, with Parker noting, "If there's one thing we know, it is that our show will be a lot longer than theirs. So, we just got to do this for now."
This isn't the first time the creators have wrestled with political satire. Following the 2016 election, Stone recalled thinking, "Dude, we're just becoming CNN now. We're becoming: 'Tune in to see what we're going to say about Trump.'" Both creators expressed frustration at becoming stuck in political commentary despite their initial reluctance.
By the 2024 election, Parker told Vanity Fair he believed they had exhausted Trump's comedic potential, stating "I don't know what more we could possibly say about Trump." Yet the continued cultural dominance of the former president continues to provide fresh material for the series that has now spanned 28 seasons.
