The latest season of South Park has repeatedly mocked and belittled President Donald Trump, and this political focus has been rewarded with a huge increase in viewership.
The first episode of Season 27 earlier this year attracted 5.9 million viewers across the Comedy Central cable channel and the Paramount+ streaming service, South Park’s best season premiere rating since 2022. Ratings have continued to rise throughout the season, with Nielsen viewership figures over the past four months more than double what they were in 2023, when the show last aired a new season.
In an interview with the New York Times, the show’s co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker said they found the subject matter impossible to avoid.
“It’s not that we got all political,” said Parker. “It’s that politics became pop culture.”
Stone added that speaking out against the Trump administration had become “taboo.” He continued: “Trey and I are attracted to that like flies to honey. Oh, that’s where the taboo is? Over there? OK, then we’re over there.”
After South Park first took a swipe at Trump, the White House responded in a statement to Variety: “The Left’s hypocrisy truly has no end – for years they have come after South Park for what they labeled as ‘offense’ content, but suddenly they are praising the show.
“Just like the creators of South Park, the Left has no authentic or original content, which is why their popularity continues to hit record lows,” Rogers continued.
“This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention. President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country’s history – and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.”
In the New York Times interview, Parker clarified that their targets can come from all sides of the political spectrum.
“We’re just very down-the-middle guys,” he 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.”
The show’s most recent episode, released on Halloween, mocked Trump’s destruction of the White House’s East Wing.
The episode, titled “The Woman in the Hat,” follows Trump’s character as he is haunted by an “entity” after tearing down the East Wing.
The real-life East Wing was demolished last month to make way for Trump’s $300 million ballroom, despite the president’s previous statement that it wouldn’t “interfere with the current building.”
In the South Park episode, the “entity” is revealed to be first lady Melania Trump, who is wearing a giant purple hat that covers her face, in an apparent parody of the outfit she wore on a state visit to the U.K. last month.
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