The creators of «South Park» marked their Emmy win for Outstanding Animated Program by taking another shot at Donald Trump. A graphic posted to the show's Instagram account showed the president clutching the trophy with his pants and underwear around his ankles, accompanied by the message: «You finally got your Emmy.» The post was captioned with congratulations to Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and the entire «South Park» team.
The jab appears to reference Trump's own history with the awards. The president was nominated for the US version of «The Apprentice» in the Outstanding Reality-Competition Program category in 2004 and 2005, but never took home the prize. Recent seasons of the animated series have featured storylines depicting Trump in a relationship with Satan, having a micro penis, and having sex with Vice President J.D. Vance.
The White House responded to the show's continued attacks last July, dismissing the series with a statement that read: «This show hasn't been relevant for over 20 years.» According to Parker and Stone, that reaction only fueled their determination to keep going. «We were just going to do that first show with the Trump stuff,» Parker said via The Hollywood Reporter. «We laid into him so hard, and the thing became: 'Well, who's the bully now?' It became this just totally juvenile joke of like, 'We're not gonna stop. We're going to do it every single week.'»
He continued: «Even when everyone's like, 'OK, guys, move on,' [we're] like, 'Nope, we're not moving on. We're going to keep going, going, going.' That became the joke.» The creators initially intended to stop mocking Trump after a single episode, but reversed course after the pushback they received.
In a separate interview with The New York Times, Parker explained that the decision to put Trump in «South Park» was not driven by politics, but by the blurring of lines between government and entertainment. «Politics became pop culture,» he said. «It's like the government is just in your face everywhere you look. Whether it's the actual government or whether it is all the podcasters and the TikToks and the YouTubes and all of that, and it's just all political and political because it's more than political. It's pop culture.»
The Emmy win adds another milestone to the long-running series, which airs on Paramount+ in the UK. The show has built its recent seasons around political satire, with Trump as a recurring target. The Instagram post celebrating the award doubles as a continuation of that theme, turning the ceremony itself into another opportunity for the creators to needle the president.