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Straits Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Animated sitcom South Park finds new relevance skewering the Trump era
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox A scene from the second episode of the 27th season of South Park featuring (from left) US President Donald Trump and US Vice-President J.D. Vance. NEW YORK – When the 27th season of South Park premiered in July with a scene showing US President Donald Trump in bed with Satan discussing American financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the White House attacked the animated sitcom as a 'fourth-rate show' and said it 'hasn't been relevant for over 20 years'. But the episode drew strong ratings, and when the series returned on Aug 6 with its second episode, some of the Trump administration officials and allies who were skewered – including US Vice-President J.D. Vance – took a different tack and tried to show they could take a joke. 'Well, I've finally made it,' Mr Vance wrote on social media as he reposted a scene from the show that imagined Mar-a-Lago as Fantasy Island (1977 to 1984) and the vice-president as Tattoo, the short sidekick who was played by French actor Herve Villechaize in the original TV series. Not all of the officials who were roasted laughed it off. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was portrayed as a serial dog shooter who was obsessed with her appearance. (She wrote in her 2024 memoir about killing her dog with a gun.) Speaking on conservative talk show The Glenn Beck Program on Aug 7, she said it was 'lazy' to make fun of women for how they look. 'Only the liberals and the extremists do that,' she added. 'If they wanted to criticise my job, go ahead and do that. But clearly they can't. They just pick something petty like that.' In the South Park episode, Got A Nut, Mackey, a school counsellor, loses his job because of budget cuts and takes a position with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He accompanies ICE on raids of a Dora The Explorer Live! show and of heaven, where he is told to round up only brown angels. South Park, which has routinely roasted political figures with satire and dark comedy since its debut in 1997, has regained momentum, as its tart observations of the second Trump administration are commanding attention and breaking through online. Before the episode aired, the Department of Homeland Security's account on social platform X shared a screenshot from a South Park trailer showing masked ICE agents – and added a link to its recruitment website. The South Park social media account responded, 'Wait, so we ARE relevant?' and added a ribald hashtag. The second episode also briefly portrays Mr Charlie Kirk, the founder and chief of the pro-Trump, youth-focused non-profit organisation Turning Point USA. The man himself embraced the parody and approvingly shared several clips on his social media accounts, including a segment in which Cartman fiercely debates 'woke liberal students'. 'Not bad, Cartman,' Mr Kirk wrote on X, where he changed his avatar to an image of Cartman sporting a Kirk-like haircut. NYTIMES
USA Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Kristi Noem slams 'South Park' for 'petty' and 'lazy' spoof of her: 'Only the liberals'
Kristi Noem is firing back at "South Park." The Comedy Central show mocked Noem, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in its latest episode, "Got A Nut," which aired on Aug. 6. And she didn't find their portrayal very funny. On "The Glenn Beck Program" podcast, the former Fox News star detailed how he later rewatched his spoofing on "South Park" and told Noem, "Welcome to the club." Beck said he watched the episode where the show targeted him with his son, and the duo "both laughed over it." But Noem – who said she "didn't get to see" the episode she was featured in – wasn't laughing. After uproar, 'South Park' pummels Trump again and hits at JD Vance, Kristi Noem "It never ends, but it's so lazy, to make fun of women for how they look. Only the liberals and the extremists do that," Noem told Beck. "If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly they can't. They just pick something petty like that." Noem is the former governor of South Dakota, which she served as from 2019 until earlier this year, and was previously the state's sole congresswoman. 'South Park' Kristi Noem dog joke explained In the "South Park" episode, school counselor Mr. Mackey is hired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the spot and watches a recruitment video where Noem repeatedly shoots dogs, a reference to her 2024 admission that she'd shot and killed an "untrainable" family dog. The animated Trump also offers to make Mr. Mackey the "new face of Homeland Security" because Noem's "face freaks me out," a comment seemingly referencing rumors that Noem has had facial enhancements. The closing credits of the episode also showed Noem on a shooting spree in a pet store. JD Vance reacts to 'South Park' episode Unlike Noem, the vice president didn't seem as bothered by the episode. He reacted on X to the spoof in the latest installment of the Comedy Central series, which depicted him as a servant of President Donald Trump. "Well, I've finally made it," Vance wrote on X on Thursday, Aug. 7, in response to a photo of his portrayal on the show.
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Kristi Noem Hits Back at South Park Portrayal: 'Lazy'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirsti Noem responded to South Park mocking her on its latest episode. "It's so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look. It's only the liberals and the extremists who do that," she told The Glenn Beck Program podcast. "If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly they can't," she added. "They just pick something petty like that." In Wednesday night's episode, called "Got a Nut," Noem's Botox ran out and made fun of her for shooting her own dog. Her character runs an orientation session for new ICE recruits and tells them: "A few years ago, I had to put my puppy down by shooting it in the face, because sometimes doing what's important means doing what's hard." She is then shown shooting several dogs. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were also portrayed in the show, with Vance responding in a post on X saying: "Well, I've finally made it." It comes after a spat between South Park and the White House over whether the show is "relevant." This is a developing story - more to follow.
