South Park, the long-running animated satire, has once again found itself at the heart of American political controversy—this time for its biting portrayal of Kristi Noem, the current US Secretary of Homeland Security and former South Dakota governor. The episode, which aired on August 7, 2025, did not pull any punches, lampooning Noem with exaggerated makeup, a melting face attributed to excessive Botox, and scenes of her shooting dogs. The episode also took aim at other Trump administration figures, most notably Vice-President JD Vance, depicted as a miniature cartoon character oiling Satan’s rear end for Donald Trump.
Noem, for her part, was quick to respond. On August 8, she appeared on the Glenn Beck Program podcast, where she voiced her displeasure. “It’s so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look,” Noem remarked, according to The Guardian. “If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that. But clearly they can’t – they just pick something petty like that.”
The South Park episode’s depiction of Noem wasn’t pulled from thin air. It referenced real events she recounted in her 2024 memoir, No Going Back, where she described shooting her family’s 14-month-old dog Cricket after it ruined a pheasant hunt and killed a neighbor’s chickens. In the same book, Noem also admitted to killing an unruly, uncastrated goat. She justified these actions as the sort of “tough decisions” politicians sometimes have to make. However, this defense did little to sway public opinion—a poll found that more than eight in ten Americans disapproved of her admissions, a fact that has continued to dog her public image.
South Park’s creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are no strangers to controversy, and their satirical lens has often focused on political figures. In this latest episode, Noem’s cartoon avatar is seen not only with the infamous melting face but also shooting dogs in an instructional video used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The show linked these scenes to Noem’s real-life appearances at ICE raids and her photo ops in front of the notorious Cecot prison in El Salvador. These public events were meant to underscore her tough-on-immigration credentials—a central plank of the Trump administration’s policy agenda.
The satirical jabs didn’t stop with Noem. Vice-President JD Vance, a key figure in Trump’s administration, was lampooned in a scene that quickly went viral. Vance, never one to shy away from social media banter, responded with humor. “Well, I’ve finally made it,” he posted online, referencing his cartoonish portrayal. The episode’s willingness to lampoon both Noem and Vance underscores South Park’s equal-opportunity irreverence—a trait that has kept the show in the cultural conversation for nearly three decades.
Despite the uproar, the Trump administration’s feelings toward South Park appear decidedly mixed. A White House statement recently claimed that the show “hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years.” Yet, in a twist of irony, the Department of Homeland Security used a still from the very same South Park episode to promote ICE job openings, touting signing bonuses of $50,000. The show’s official social media account couldn’t resist responding: “Wait so we ARE relevant?” The back-and-forth highlighted the strange symbiosis between political figures and the pop culture juggernauts that lampoon them.
This season of South Park, the 27th, has been particularly pointed in its critiques of the Trump administration. The season premiere, which also featured Trump in scenes with Satan, drew 5.9 million viewers across Comedy Central and Paramount+, marking the show’s best opening since 2022, according to Latin Times. The timing of the premiere is notable—it coincided with a major business deal between South Park and Paramount, estimated at around $1.5 billion and including global streaming rights. The Trump administration had recently approved a lucrative merger between Paramount’s parent company and Skydance Media, further intertwining the worlds of politics, media, and entertainment.
The show’s renewed visibility comes at a time when the boundaries between politics and entertainment are increasingly blurred. Paramount’s CBS division made headlines of its own when it canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert shortly after the host criticized the company for settling a lawsuit with Trump over a contentious interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris. The move was widely interpreted as a sign of the changing media landscape, where business interests and political considerations often collide.
For Noem, the South Park lampooning is just the latest in a string of high-profile media moments. As a former vice-presidential hopeful and now a cabinet secretary, she has become a lightning rod for both supporters and critics. Her memoir, intended to showcase her willingness to make “tough calls,” instead sparked widespread backlash. The dog-shooting incident, in particular, has become a recurring theme in both serious news coverage and late-night comedy. Noem has consistently defended her actions, saying they were necessary and emblematic of her straightforward approach to leadership. But as the polling numbers show, her explanation has not won over the majority of Americans.
Meanwhile, South Park’s creators seem undeterred by the controversy. Their willingness to satirize powerful figures—regardless of party affiliation—has long been their calling card. The show’s ability to provoke strong reactions from its targets is a testament to its enduring cultural relevance, even as some in the political establishment try to downplay its influence.
In the end, the dust-up between Kristi Noem and South Park is emblematic of the current American moment: a place where politics, media, and popular culture collide in unpredictable—and often combustible—ways. Whether the show’s satire will have any lasting impact on Noem’s political fortunes remains to be seen. But for now, one thing is certain: South Park’s irreverent humor continues to spark debate, draw massive audiences, and hold a mirror up to the nation’s most powerful figures—even if that mirror is cracked, distorted, and, yes, sometimes melting right off the screen.
