Comedy Central
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have opened up about why they’ve leaned into Donald Trump storylines during the recent 27th and 28th seasons, which has represented a sharp pivot from their prior stance on the matter.
Back in early 2017, after using the Mr. Garrison character as a stand-in for Trump in the South Park world, Parker and Stone said they were going to back off doing Trump jokes because reality was already outpacing satire, with Parker saying that “satire has become reality” and “was much funnier than anything we could come up with.”
Now in Trump’s second term, however, that position has changed, as the iconic South Park creators are politics have become too mainstream in pop culture to ignore.
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone explain why they’ve changed their stance on Donald Trump storylines
“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,”Parker told the New York Times.
“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. 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,” he continued.
“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.”
During season 27 and 28, which have been running over the course of this Summer and Fall, Donald Trump has been heavily featured in the same style that the series had previously used for the likes of Saddam Hussein, Mel Gibson and Ben Affleck. Similar to the previous Saddam character, Trump also finds himself in a homosexual romantic relationship with Satan.
“On top of that, they sensed a fear of speaking out against the administration and that ‘new taboos’ had emerged, Mr. Stone said.
“‘Trey and I are attracted to that like flies to honey,’ Mr. Stone said. ‘Oh, that’s where the taboo is? Over there? OK, then we’re over there.'”
Whatever South Park are doing, they clearly have the backing of the Paramount higher-ups, as the company recently said that the long-running animated comedy series “was the top subscription driver on Paramount+ in the most recent quarter.”
Paramount says SOUTH PARK was the top subscription driver on Paramount+ in the most recent quarter. (In case you’re wondering why Matt & Trey get such freedom.)
— Matthew Belloni (@MattBelloni) November 10, 2025