South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker don’t want viewers to think they attack Trump out of any personal animosity.
According to Variety, the pair recently sat down with The New York Times to explain their approach. “We’re just very down-the-middle guys,” Parker said. “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.”
#SouthPark creators keep attacking Trump and MAGA because politics is “pop culture” and the new bosses at Paramount are “letting us do whatever we want, to their credit.”
“It’s not that we got all political. It’s that politics became pop culture. There’s no getting away from… pic.twitter.com/964bjUmkZE
— Variety (@Variety) November 10, 2025
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So why is the show, now in its 28th season, what Variety calls a series of “full blown Donald Trump takedowns?”
“It’s not that we got all political. It’s that politics became pop culture,” Parker said. He notes that there were conversations about tackling other topics, but “there’s no getting away from [MAGA].”
Many lament the change, noting that South Park was often at its best when lampooning other aspects of pop culture. The 2023 episode Joining the Panderverse, which skewered Kathleen Kennedy’s leadership of Lucasfilm and gave us the line, ‘put a chick in it and make her lame and gay,’ has itself become part of pop culture.
Cartman as Kathleen Kennedy in South Park – Paramount+
But from the duo’s perspective, those days are over. “It’s like the government is just in your face everywhere you look,” Parker said.
“South park makes fun of everyone”
Well, except for Obama, Biden, and Harris but other than that short 12 year anomaly in their 25 year runtime they totally roast both sides
— George Alexopoulos (@GPrime85) July 25, 2025
Critics, however, have been quick to note that this is a recent development for the pair, who took it comparatively easy on Presidents Obama and Biden.
Flashback: When They Avoided Trump
In 2017, Hollywood in Toto reported that Parker and Stone were being shamed in the media for not making enough Trump jokes. For season 21, the South Park writers decided to back off on Trump, in part because everyone else was already mocking him. It was a decision that resulted in multiple think pieces criticizing their choice.
“One comedy show … one! … decides there’s nothing more to mock about President Trump and the knives come out,” Hollywood in Toto said at the time.
Eric Cartman parodying Charlie Kirk on South Park – YouTube, Charlie Kirk
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One might ask where those knives were when South Park more or less ignored Biden and Harris. While there were fewer episodes produced between 2021 and 2024, ScreenRant said of the 2022 season that “it felt like they were going through the motions” with satire.
When the 2024 presidential election was ramping up, Parker and Stone decided to sit it out completely, hinting that Paramount’s impending sale to Skydance created complications. They also added that after doing four or five elections it was less fun.
A scene from South Park season 27 – YouTube, South Park Studios
Even though Biden had dropped out by that point and Harris seemingly offered plenty of comedic material, the South Park showrunners only mentioned the former president. According to Variety, Parker told Vanity Fair “I don’t know what more we could possibly say about Trump,” while never acknowledging that Harris was also on the ballot.
Apparently, after Trump’s reelection, they realized they had more to say after all.
Taboos
The duo claim that they are remaining true to the spirit of South Park, which has always been about parodying whatever is taboo.
“Trey and I are attracted to that like flies to honey,” Stone said. “Oh, that’s where the taboo is? Over there? Ok, then we’re over there.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spoofed on South Park – YouTube, Comedy Central
In the New York Times interview, Parker and Stone said they always intended to go after Trump in the season 27 premiere last July. That they haven’t stopped since is proving wearisome to some fans.
I like the older, funny South Park.
We get it, you hate Trump with all the equal-handed ferocity with which you hated Biden, Harris, Obama.
Got it.
You’re becoming the Howard Stern of cartoons.
— John in the Shelter (@jswriter65) August 14, 2025
Parker and Stone are trying to position themselves as “very down-the-middle guys” simply staying afloat when all of pop culture has gone political. They even suggest that Trump’s time in the White House has forced the show’s storyline onto its current trajectory. “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,” Parker said.
Eric Cartman and Liane Cartman in South Park Season 2 (1998), Comedy Central
Ultimately, how long South Park lasts — and how long its audience keeps laughing — may depend on whether viewers still find politics funny.
Do you agree that politics have become pop culture? Is that why South Park keeps attacking Trump? Let us know in the comments!
