When South Park made its much-anticipated return to cable television on July 23, 2025, with the Season 27 premiere "Sermon on the 'Mount,'" few could have predicted just how quickly the show would become a lightning rod for controversy—again. But, as has happened so many times before, the animated series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone wasted no time in skewering the most powerful figures in American politics, this time setting its satirical sights squarely on former President Donald Trump in a way that even longtime fans found jaw-dropping.
The premiere episode didn’t pull any punches, depicting Trump as a "small-dicked, Middle-Eastern dictator"—a role the show once reserved for Saddam Hussein. According to Cracked, the parody went so far as to accuse the fictionalized Trump of abusing the legal system to silence critics, soliciting bribes, and dodging questions about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The depiction was so pointed, in fact, that less than 24 hours after the episode aired, the White House issued an official statement condemning South Park’s attacks on Trump, dismissing the show as having "not been relevant for over 20 years."
But if the intention was to undermine South Park’s cultural cachet, the move may have backfired spectacularly. As Cracked observed, the more the Trump administration publicly bristled at the show’s comedic criticisms, the higher South Park’s record-breaking viewership numbers seemed to climb. It’s a textbook example of what fans and media scholars alike call the "Mecha-Streisand effect"—a reference to the show’s own satirical take on the Streisand effect, in which attempts to suppress criticism only end up amplifying it.
Behind the scenes, some South Park fans began to worry that Trump’s anger might push Paramount Global—the show’s corporate owner—into silencing the series, especially given the company’s recent efforts to appease political powerbrokers. These fears were not entirely unfounded, as Paramount had previously pulled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert following political pressure. The show itself directly addressed this dynamic in "Sermon on the 'Mount,'" further fueling speculation that South Park might soon find itself on the chopping block.
Yet, as Adrienne Uthe, founder and strategic advisor at Kronus Communications, told The Irish Star on August 8, 2025, the best move for Trump would be to resist the urge to retaliate. "I’m sure Trump could move some mountains to damage the South Park name and potentially get it canceled," Uthe observed, but she warned that such a move "wouldn’t be a good look." In her words: "You’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself, and needing to silence voices only shows weakness in this instance. South Park is consistent in that they make fun of everyone—let them cook."
That advice, however, seems to have fallen on deaf ears. The second episode of Season 27, "Got a Nut," which aired in early August, took the show’s political satire to even darker places. According to Looper, the episode’s main plotlines include Eric Cartman raging against a classmate’s profitable bigotry podcast—a clear jab at right-wing media grifters like Charlie Kirk—and Mr. Mackey, the school counselor, being fired due to government-mandated budget cuts and forced to work for ICE. The result? A storyline that lampoons the incompetence and desperation of ICE agents, portraying them as "grossly unequipped and unfit for any sort of authority but are also desperate for a paycheck."
The episode’s most controversial moment comes when ICE raids a "Dora the Explorer" live show, kidnapping everyone who fits the "if it’s brown, it must go down" mantra attributed to the current Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. In a surreal twist, ICE even raids heaven upon learning that Latinos have made it there. Later, Mr. Mackey is invited to Mar-a-Lago by Trump, where the resort is depicted as a deranged version of "Fantasy Island"—with JD Vance serving as the Tattoo to Trump’s Roarke. Inside this bizarre setting, the show delivers what Looper called its "darkest joke": Dora the Explorer, now a masseuse, is seen rubbing the feet of an old man whom fans believe to be Epstein’s lawyer, Alan Dershowitz. The implication is unmistakable—South Park is teasing the much-discussed connection between Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, with teenage Dora essentially being sex trafficked to a resort full of wealthy, powerful men.
South Park’s willingness to tackle such incendiary subject matter is nothing new, but the scale and specificity of its satire in Season 27 has taken things to another level. The show’s creators have long relished poking fun at everyone from politicians to celebrities, but the current season’s focus on the Trump-Epstein connection—and the broader issues of government overreach, ICE abuses, and political hypocrisy—has struck a particularly raw nerve.
Not everyone in Trump’s orbit has responded with outrage. Some, like Charlie Kirk, have attempted to defuse the satire by pretending to be in on the joke, with Kirk reportedly claiming that "Eric Cartman is based and correct and totally not a parody of America’s worst political tendencies" after his own caricature aired. But as Cracked noted, the options for Trump and his allies are limited. Trying to silence South Park could create a much bigger public relations nightmare than simply taking the ribbing in stride.
For Paramount Global, the decision to stand by South Park in the face of political pressure is a high-stakes gamble. The network is acutely aware of the risks of alienating powerful figures in Washington, but it also recognizes the value of the show’s fiercely loyal fanbase and its reputation for equal-opportunity satire. As Uthe put it, "South Park is consistent in that they make fun of everyone—let them cook."
Meanwhile, viewers and critics alike are left wondering just how far Parker and Stone will go this season. The hints dropped in "Got a Nut" suggest that South Park may be gearing up for its boldest—and possibly most controversial—episodes yet. With the show’s creators showing no signs of backing down, and with the political climate as charged as ever, the only certainty is that South Park’s 27th season will continue to push boundaries and spark debate.
For now, the ball is in Trump’s court. Whether he chooses to heed the advice of public relations experts and "let them cook," or doubles down on efforts to quash the show, one thing is clear: in the age-old battle between satire and power, South Park has once again proven it knows how to hit where it hurts—and keep audiences coming back for more.
