Trump gets the ‘real face' treatment in blistering ‘South Park' satire
After skipping the 2024 election season, Comedy Central's long-running animated show is back on air for its 27th season, just in time to cover President Trump's second term in office.
While the series—whose creators just closed a $1.5 billion streaming deal —has not shied away from mocking pop culture and political figures in the past (previous iterations of Trump as president include 'Mr. Garrison,' a school teacher who later runs for president against Hillary Clinton and wins), the creators are directly targeting the current president this season, going as far as using his real face in place of their traditional animated renderings.
In a short 22 minutes, the episode touched on the some of the most controversial recent events in the past few weeks, including tariffs on Canada, the Jeffrey Epstein case, the Paramount-Skydance merger, and CBS's cancellation of The Late Show. To top it off, a scene of the naked president features a small penis (albeit a cartoon one), twisting the knife even more.
Comedy Central, where the series airs, is owned by Paramount Global.
Real-life faces are back
Skipping a caricaturized version of the president, South Park opted to use a real image of Trump, cut open like a marionette when speaking, although the artistic choice is famously not new.
In the past, the show has opted for real-life-picture cutouts of certain celebrities and public figures—including some infamous ones. The series website describes such portrayals as 'more of a personal decision' from the show's creators.
According to fan roundups collected online, the celebrities and public figures who have been featured with their real-life cutouts include Ben Affleck, Tony Danza, Christina Aguilera, Jeffrey Dahmer, Gene Siskel, Princess Diana, Adolf Hitler, Walter Matthau, Allen Ginsberg, Tiny Tim, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr., Mao Zedong, Michael Landon, Jerry Garcia, Saddam Hussein, Mel Gibson, Jimmy Stewart, George Burns, and now, notably, Donald Trump.
In addition to bringing back the marionette like real-life cutout, the show also revived its in-bed-with-satan trope. Trump is pictured undressing before climbing into bed with the devil, an apparent ode to the show's 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, which featured Saddam Hussein in a similar situation.
Not everyone is happy about the episode
While many users on social media have praised South Park 's season debut, those in support of the president seem less content with the episode.
'South Park has gone woke. They must go broke,' reads a typical response on X.
As expected, the current administration is also not delighted with the show's creative direction. Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, told Entertainment Weekly that the '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.'
Trump has yet to directly respond to the episode.
The super-early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is this Friday, July 25, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump deal with Europe underlines new standard of (at least) 15% tariffs
President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a trade deal Sunday with a range of somewhat vague plans for energy purchases and open markets but one thing crystal clear: a tariff rate of 15% on European goods. It's the latest example of a new tariff floor for Trump that has been backed by other recent deals and letters, including one with Japan this past week that also saw a 15% rate. "We'll have a straight simple tariff of anywhere between 15% and 50%," Trump asserted. Both Trump and von der Leyen highlighted the 15% rate Sunday after their meeting in Scotland. Trump claimed a 'straight-across tariff of 15%' for 'automobiles and everything else,' adding that US exports to Europe would face a 0% rate. Von der Leyen confirmed the 15% tariffs 'across the board and inclusive," adding that it would bring stability and predictability to US-Europe relations. Trump added that the deal includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new EU purchases of U.S. energy as well as military equipment. The 15% rate may get a mixed reaction in Europe after negotiators had previously pushed for free trade (or more recently a 10% rate), but it's a halving from the 30% tariffs Trump promised in a letter earlier this month. Sunday's agreement with the European Union — America's largest trading partner — comes following agreements with Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia with saw tariff rates of between 19% and 20%. Only one negotiation has seen Trump agree to a tariff below 15% — a pact with the UK in May — with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent writing earlier this month, "usually the first person who makes a deal makes the best deal." Some details unclear Trump also said Sunday that many of the remaining countries facing a deadline of August 1 would face a letter dictating rates, saying they would be be 'very universal for most' and that the European deal is 'the big one.' The president said three to four additional countries could be in for deals in the the coming days while most nations would simply get letters. In any case, the 15% baseline is a shift — even from recent weeks. Trump earlier this month said that many countries would see a rate of 'probably 10% or 15%, we haven't decided yet.' Even last Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS: "You should assume that the small countries... will have a baseline tariff of 10%." This new standard is also notable fulfillment of an oft-made campaign trail promise that saw the then-candidate pledge to create a "ring around the collar" of the US economy with a blanket rate of between 10% and 20%. Fulfilling that pledge — which was often dismissed as unrealistic at the time — has now become not only accepted but even a plus for markets after six months of Trump's second term have seen threats of higher duties that have reordered world trade actions. The recent announcement of the deal with Japan with a 15% tariff on goods like autos was welcomed by traders and helped fuel rises in US markets as well as the Japanese Nikkei 225, which immediately surged on the news. Japanese automakers in particular saw a jump after that deal as those companies celebrated a lowering of auto tariffs from 25% to 15%. European automakers now find themselves in a similar position. Trump, meanwhile, says he has no plans to amended his other sector specific tariffs as part of the European Union deal — even as Von der Leyen called the 15% tariffs 'inclusive." There are 50% tariffs currently levied on steel and aluminum (with planned duties at the same rate on copper), and Trump said Sunday that those tariffs are a "worldwide thing that stays the way it is." Trump also reiterated his promises of sectoral tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals to be rolled out, which could be much higher than 15% — unless Europe gets a carveout. Also on Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that a new semiconductor tariffs are nearly ready and would be unveiled in about "two weeks time." Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Click here for political news related to business and money policies that will shape tomorrow's stock prices Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Bloomberg
3 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
The Impact of President Trump's Trade War May Be Worse Than You Think
Never miss an episode. Follow The Big Take daily podcast today. For months, the impact of President Trump's aggressive trade policy has largely felt theoretical. But with an Aug. 1 tariff extension on the horizon and a consequential week ahead for the president's broader economic agenda, the cracks are beginning to show.
The Hill
4 minutes ago
- The Hill
Lutnick says tariffs set in place Aug 1: ‘No extensions. No more grace periods.'
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday that President Trump would not grant any further extensions to countries wishing to negotiate trade deals ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline. 'No extensions, no more grace periods. Aug. 1, the tariffs are set,' Lutnick said in an interview on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'They'll go into place, customs will start collecting the money, and off we go,' Lutnick continued. Lutnick added, however, that the president would be open to continuing to negotiate even once the tariffs are in place. 'Obviously after Aug. 1, people can still talk to President Trump,' Lutnick said. 'I mean, he's always willing to listen.' The president will also continue to talk to other countries before the Aug. 1 deadline, Lutnick added. 'Whether they can make him happy is another question,' Lutnick said. 'But the president's definitely willing to negotiate and talk to the big economies for sure.' The interview came shortly before Trump announced a trade deal with the European Union, setting tariffs at 15 percent for European goods, including automobiles. The EU agreed to purchase $750 billion worth of energy from the U.S. as part of the deal, Trump announced on Sunday, and to invest in the U.S. $600 billion more than the current investments for other goods. The agreement is lower than the 30 percent tariff Trump had threatened to impose on the EU, which was set to take effect on Aug. 1, and avoids a trade war with the U.S.'s largest trading partner. Trump earlier this month posted letters to social media sent to more than a dozen countries vowing to impose steep tariffs on their imports starting Aug. 1. An initial round of tariffs unveiled in April were paused for 90 days to allow time for negotiations, and the president then pushed the deadline for the tariffs to take effect back by another couple weeks — to Aug. 1.
