Seeing a deepfake version of President Donald J. Trump stumble naked through the desert with a tiny anthropomorphic penis did not rank highly in my list of most probable events of the summer of 2025. Despite my doubts, though, that exact scene graced my eyes one fateful July evening while watching the South Park season premiere with my brother.
South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have long been known for their “no sacred cows” approach to art, parodying countless celebrities, global leaders and even revered religious figures despite death threats by terrorist groups. This year marked a greatly-awaited return for the adult animated series, as the duo decided to take a hiatus in 2024 in order to avoid focusing another season on election coverage. Shortly after announcing a five-year deal with Paramount+, South Park’s 27th season debuted on July 23 and has brilliantly combined ridiculously over-the-top depictions of Trump administration figures with genuine policy criticisms.
The season premiere catapulted audiences right into the main plot threads, with PC (now Power Christian) Principal injecting Christian rhetoric and imagery into South Park Elementary, even going as far as to let Jesus Christ himself host a school assembly. The town community soon protests against the Trump administration for pushing this violation of the separation of church and state, resulting in Trump suing the entire town of South Park.
In past seasons, an orange-faced Mr. Garrison has stood as the Trump-stand in, but this episode revealed that Trump himself would now act as president in the show. This change works brilliantly as a piece of more subtle criticism: it suggests that the president’s behavior has become so cartoonish that it makes more practical sense to use his likeness than present his behavior as coming from a regular series character. Throughout the season, Trump is depicted in a manner which mirrors the series’s depiction of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein; like Hussein, Trump sleeps with and sexually harasses Satan and repeats the phrase “relax, guy!” whenever he is pressed about damaging or controversial decisions. On top of comparing Trump to a notorious dictator, the episode depicts Trump as a pathetic, obese and not-so-well-endowed man who threatens to sue anyone who makes the slightest criticism about him. In a moment where Trump wields an unprecedented deal of political power to subvert long-standing institutions and legal standards, it was truly cathartic to see a piece of art completely strip him of any dignity.
However, the creative team worked brilliantly to balance these extreme parody aspects with more grounded policy criticism. In the episode, Jesus expresses himself to be in opposition to the policies pushed by Trump’s Republican Party, reflecting how real world Christian nationalists and far-right conservatives have completely abandoned the teachings preached in the New Testament. Additionally, the episode’s ending sees the town of South Park reach a settlement with Trump that requires the town to pay millions of dollars to the president and air pro-Trump messaging. This struck me as particularly similar to Trump’s interactions with Cornell and other institutions of higher learning. Like the town of South Park, university communities have been victimized by the Trump administration for largely ideological reasons, and universities have begun to accept significant losses and pander to Trump’s ego. The subsequent episodes have continued to center Trump’s impact on American society while also expanding to include criticisms of other aspects of the current political and cultural landscape.
The second episode sees Mr. Mackey, school guidance counselor, fired due to budget cuts by the Trump administration. In the wake of his unemployment, Mr. Mackey becomes an ICE agent under the leadership of Kristi Noem (who shoots every dog she sees throughout the course of the episode). In doing so, Mr. Mackey involves himself in the indiscriminate hunting and disruption of undocumented communities. Meanwhile, students Cartman and Clyde emulate popular conservative activists like Charlie Kirk who debate unprepared opponents in bad faith rather than contribute to actual dialogues. On the whole, this episode works brilliantly as a criticism of the willingness by many to act as grifters or abandon their values for the sake of a paycheck.
In the two most recent episodes the show parodies the foolish, obsequious nature of AI chatbots like ChatGPT and the Labubu fad, respectively. By interweaving Trump’s policies and behaviors into these seemingly non-political plotlines, South Park illustrates how Trump has managed to infect practically every aspect of day-to-day life. The third episode depicts how world leaders and rich tech executives engage in bribery-like practices to gain favor with Trump and attempt to influence policymaking. Meanwhile, the fourth and latest episode makes frequent reference to how tariffs imposed by Trump often hurt consumers with higher prices rather than foreign manufacturers.
So far, South Park’s newest season has proven itself to be extremely willing to criticize the Trump administration at length, showing practically no fear with the extent they go to mock the president and his allies. The show’s new release format, which sees an episode being released every two weeks rather than weekly, also improves the show’s delivery in multiple ways. For one, releasing an episode every two weeks allows each episode a greater amount of time in the spotlight, allowing criticisms and jokes to resonate longer in the minds of viewers. More importantly, the show’s revised release schedule gives the writers more time to recognize what current event topics will stay relevant, allowing them to avoid focusing entire episodes on news stories that may become completely irrelevant in the span of a few days. This is particularly important when covering Trump’s administration, which seems to generate controversy at a rapid-fire pace.
So far, South Park has offered me, among many others, solace and laughter in a time of immense concern for our nation’s future. The season’s future seems promising and full of laughs, especially given last week’s reveal that Trump has impregnated Satan.
Matthew Rentezelas is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at mmr255@cornell.edu.
