South Park Just Did What CBS News Refused to Do

Stand up to Trump and call out Paramount’s cowardice.

Credit: Comedy Central / Paramount Global

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone just did what some of America’s leading media organizations have refused to do since Donald Trump took office: deliver a fearless, uncompromising frontal assault on the president’s authoritarian agenda that refuses to bow to political intimidation.

In terms of comedy, it was an instant classic. In terms of highlighting the cowardice of America’s media elites—and showing that courage is still possible—it was even more valuable. The episode lands just as South Park’s parent network, Paramount Global, agreed to pay Trump $16 million in a transparent move to grease the skids for its merger with Skydance Media.

What makes it even funnier is that South Park and its creators just signed a $1.5 billion, five-year contract with Paramount 24 hours before the episode was released. Despite the massive deal, South Park pulled no punches calling out the cowardice of the very network that pays them. Stone and Parker took Paramount’s money, turned around, and shamed them for capitulating to Trump.

If you haven’t watched South Park before, the plot of the latest episode may seem a little … strange. But it distills the news surrounding Trump, Paramount, and the settlement down to its most ridiculous essence. The episode centers on the presence of Jesus (a recurring character in the South Park series) in South Park Elementary, which the parents of South Park protest against because it violates the separation of church and state.

Covering the protests is CBS’s own “60 Minutes.” The hosts, who are clearly terrified of speaking ill of the president, refer to him as “a great man” while muttering “oh boy, oh shit, oh god” under their breaths. They go on to distance themselves from the protesters and wonder about Randy Marsh, the lead protester, “I don’t know why he’s questioning the president!”

The subplot shows Trump in the White House with Satan (another recurring character), where he threatens to sue everyone who upsets him in any way. True to his word, he goes on to sue the town of South Park for $5 billion. The episode ends with Jesus monologuing to the people of South Park in a new “Sermon on the ‘Mount,” begging for them to settle with the president, and stating that his presence in the schools was a result of the lawsuit and agreement with Paramount.

“You guys saw what happened to CBS? Well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount. You really want to end up like Colbert? You guys got to stop being stupid,” Jesus tells the crowd. “He also has the power to sue and take bribes, and he can do anything to anyone. It’s the fucking president, dude.”

This matters because it's the first major TV show to directly go after Trump in his second term while also exposing how media companies enable him. At a time when Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post, Paramount, ABC News, and others have caved without even bothering to put up a fight, South Park just proved you can still tell the truth about Trump. Even better, they showed you can do so while mercilessly calling out the cowardice of the very people signing your checks.

This is what’s missing under Trump’s second term. Much of our leading media either ignore Trump’s authoritarianism completely or soft-pedal their criticisms of him without saying anything of substance. Stone and Parker just set the bar high and minted an instant classic of political satire. And they did so as a comedy duo—not journalists, not media executives—that still has the clarity to see Trump’s wrongdoing for what it is, and the courage to call it out unapologetically.

Media companies like Paramount that paid Trump protection money rather than fight for their journalistic integrity just got outdone by a comedy show. Their cowardice is all the more shameful in the face of actual bravery.

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