The creators of South Park managed to dominate the political discourse this week with their jaw-dropping attack on President Trump—one that included a fake video of a naked Trump in the desert, complete with a talking penis. The White House is pushing back at the show it calls "irrelevant," but Calder McHugh writes in a Politico analysis that the episode skewering Trump over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein signals real trouble for the president.
- "It's the latest sign that Trump has lost control of the Epstein narrative, and that the saga has broken Washington containment and permeated deep into popular culture. That makes it the worst kind of White House mess."
- Specifically, it suggests Trump is losing favor with "non-political young voters" who helped put him back in office. That's because Trump seems to abandoned the traits that endeared him to them: "His straight talk, his ability to call out bull----, his willingness to pontificate on almost anything, his promises to pull back the curtain on Washington and stick it to a government that always seemed to be hiding something."
One notable part of all this is that the show's Matt Stone and Trey Parker said back in 2023 that they were done criticizing Trump, because, as Parker said, "I don't know what more we could possibly say about Trump." Because of the Epstein controversy, it appears they "had no choice" but to resume, writes David Mack at Slate. "Like some of the series' best work, the episode was shamelessly crude and juvenile but also shockingly sharp and current," writes Mack. It referenced not just Epstein, but CBS' cancellation of Stephen Colbert's show and the network's settlement of a 60 Minutes lawsuit brought by Trump—all the more cutting because South Park just renewed its contract with Paramount, owner of CBS.
At the Guardian, Stuart Heritage sees the show as a "grand dare" by the duo. "If Trump could get $16m by suing Paramount over an editorially acceptable edit on a news program, then it stands to reason that he will try to go after a cartoon that depicts him trying to insert his microscopic penis into Satan. And if he does sue, will Paramount risk destroying its already damaged reputation by capitulating yet again?"
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
