South Park's History of Presidential Parody

Since South Park premiered in 1997, they’ve lampooned their fair share of presidents and presidential candidates. The show began during the Clinton administration and has survived to see at least 7 Presidential elections, and typically, they aren’t afraid to utilize these real life politicians in their narratives and satire. But this year, Matt and Trey have opted to skip the presidential election cycle entirely, and while there are many reasons they’re doing this, one that they’ve cited is that they’re just tired of covering Donald Trump in the show. This has caused A LOT of anger on both sides of the political aisle, with people claiming everything from lack of creativity, straight up cowardice or even deep state conspiracies as the culprit for this decision. And people’s reaction to this had me wondering: are people’s perceptions of how South Park has historically handled Presidents and presidential candidates accurate? So today I’m gonna go through how South Park has parodied each and every presidential administration during its long lifespan and determine what exactly their motivations seem to be when lambasting these politicians. Edited by Joe Murphy @nazchoz798 @ToonrificTariq and myself Music: Johnny 2 Cellos Theme Music - Norman Marston Johnny 2 Cellos Theme Remix- @BlackTyeChi Music by: Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos License code: LKMGGFCT3JRJFIKY Video Used: South Park (1997-2024) Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted. "Fair Use" guidelines: www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html