Patton Oswalt appeared on the latest episode of The Daily Beast’s “Last Laugh” podcast and criticized America’s “authoritarian government” under President Donald Trump. The most notable part of the interview came when he was asked about President Trump’s selective attacks on comedians.
Trump has posted a steady stream of vitriolic attacks against late-night TV hosts such as Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers. They all regularly speak out against Trump on air. President Trump’s disdain for late-night shows was widely speculated to be a key reason why CBS canceled Colbert’s “The Late Show” earlier this year, as the station’s new owner, David Ellison, increasingly aligned himself with the president. President Trump also congratulated Kimmel on his suspension from ABC in September. Despite this, President Trump has yet to post a takedown of “South Park.” The show has devoted many recent episodes to criticizing Trump in far more vulgar, shocking and NSFW ways than any late-night host has attempted.
“Nothing will silence Trump like money,” Oswalt said. “He can argue that Stephen Colbert isn’t getting the ratings and he’s not making the money, even if the show is great. But it’s not Stephen Colbert who’s losing ratings, it’s the whole infrastructure of late-night TV that’s suffering.”
But “South Park” hasn’t dropped. Just before the show began airing anti-Trump episodes at the end of July, series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone signed a deal to extend their overall deal with Paramount Global for another five years. “South Park” then began airing episodes of Trump and MAGA takedowns, which received record ratings. As Mr. Oswalt explained, President Trump cannot claim that “South Park” isn’t making money or gaining ratings by attacking late-night TV hosts.
“‘South Park’ not only makes an insane amount of money, it also gets insane ratings,” the comedian said. “And Trump gets furious about that because even if Trump doesn’t respect him, ultimately what he respects is something where the numbers are crazy high and the money is crazy. He watches ‘South Park’ and realizes how great it is. You can’t look at a piece like John Oliver’s and understand if it’s just as great. All he can think is, look at this guy’s numbers, and that’s the only way he sees the world.”
Oswalt continued, “Something as big and undeniable as ‘South Park,’ in terms of quality, people like you and me can see it, but in terms of numbers and money, Trump can see it too, and he just shuts down. If Colbert was making money on ‘South Park,’ and getting the attention of ‘South Park,’ Trump wouldn’t know what to do.”
In various recent episodes, “South Park” has shown Donald Trump having sex with and impregnating Satan, a plastic-surgery-ravaged Kristi Noem shooting and killing a puppy, and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr haunting the White House as the East Wing is demolished. The latest episode showed J.D. Vance seducing Trump and getting into bed with him.
Stone and Parker recently spoke to the New York Times about going all-in on anti-Trump and anti-MAGA episodes this season, explaining that they didn’t have a choice because “politics has become pop culture” and “you can’t run away from[MAGA].”
“It’s like everywhere you look there’s government in front of you,” Parker explained. “Whether it’s the actual government or podcasters and TikTok and YouTube and everything else, it’s all political and only political, because it’s more than politics. It’s pop culture.”
Although President Trump has not yet personally condemned South Park, the White House press secretary did condemn the series after the season 27 premiere aired in July. The White House claimed that South Park has “no authentic or original content, which is why its popularity continues to hit record lows.”
“This show has not been relevant for over 20 years, hanging on a thread of uninspired ideas in a desperate bid for attention,” the statement continued. “President Trump has delivered on more promises than any president in our nation’s history in just six months, and no amount of fourth-rate programming can derail President Trump’s good run.”
Season 28 of “South Park” will air until December 10th.
