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South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Park say they aren’t backing down from satirizing U.S. President Trump in the show’s upcoming season — even if, in their words, the latest group trying to censor them now “has a military.”
The Peabody Award-winning showrunners made the remarks in a recent video spot for the 19th Television Academy Honors, defending their irreverent animated show, as well as their decision in the last few seasons to mock Trump’s presidency. The pair argued that South Park has long played the role of America’s court jester — but lately, they say, Trump seems determined to fill that role himself.
“For 30 years, you’ve always had some group trying to tell you what you can and can’t say, and that group has changed,” said Parker, referring to the show’s long history of criticism over its boundary-pushing comedy. “That group has been liberal. That group’s been Republican. We’ve always known that our job was, we’re supposed to be the joker.
“You need that. You need someone just making fun of things. It’s a great thing to be able to be. And unfortunately, right now we have a president who thinks his job is to be the joker.”
Stone continued the thought, explaining why they chose to make Trump the villain last season.
“We had to let people know, better or worse, if you like it or you don’t, it’s like, this is us, OK?”
A Trump-focused season
When South Park returned in 2025 after a two-year hiatus, the season premiered with Trump in bed with his in-show lover, Satan — mirroring how the creators portrayed former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in the 1999 movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
In a similar, aiming-for-the-jugular fashion, the finale ended with a fake campaign ad featuring a stark naked, AI-generated Trump wandering through the desert, while a narrator declared, “Trump: His penis is teeny-tiny.”
U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem and former U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi were also among the figures lampooned in the politically charged season.
Bondi did not respond to her inclusion in the show, but Vance did in August, posting on X, “Well, I’ve finally made it.” Noem, in an interview with the Glenn Beck Program podcast, criticized the show’s focus on her appearance, calling it “lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look.”
For their part, U.S. officials certainly didn’t like what they saw last season. In response to the show’s premiere, the White House issued a statement to Rolling Stone, calling out “the Left’s hypocrisy.”
But Stone and Parker say they remain unfazed — and perhaps even more fired up to continue their work.
“Now, we really don’t give a f—k,” said Parker. “From the time we were just starting, when it was like, ‘Hey you can’t do this, this is going to screw up your career,’ we’d be like, ‘OK, we’re going to do it anyway.'”
WATCH | A clip from South Park’s premiere (Contains graphic language, images) :
“When you’re doing this kind of stuff, you have to be fearless,” he continued. “We’re not going to be afraid of anyone, and if we’re going to do something, we’re going to say, we’re going to do what’s funniest, do what’s best and we’re just going to do it.”
He concluded: “And if they want to kick us out of town, our bags are packed — it’s great.”
To which Stone laughed and quipped:
“I’ll just go to one of my other houses.”
