The adult animated series, which frequently touches on hot-button issues in American life, is now in its 27th season and remains one of the world’s most valuable TV shows.
The season premiere begins with the foul-mouthed Cartman appalled that NPR has been taken off the air by the President, while Randy, a parent, is disturbed by the presence of Jesus in public elementary school.
Complaints to the fictional White House receive only a threat from Trump to sue the mountain town of South Park for billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, animated Trump is threatening to bomb Canada “like I did Iraq”.
“I thought you just bombed Iran,” the Canadian Prime Minister replies.
“Iran, Iraq, what the hell’s the difference?” replies Trump.
The episode, which sees the fictional Trump ride roughshod over many aspects of American life, ends after the town of South Park makes a financial deal with the President that includes an agreement to make public service announcements.
The AI-generated short that follows – ostensibly one of those announcements – shows an overweight Trump staggering through a desert as a narrator casts him as a latter-day Jesus.
The short ends with a naked Trump as the narrator says: “Trump. His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large.”
Merger
The episode aired days after creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone reportedly penned a US$1.5 billion ($2.5b) streaming deal with Paramount that gives the company global rights.
The deal comes at a sensitive time for Paramount, which is trying to secure Government approval for a multi-billion-dollar merger with entertainment company Skydance.
The CBS parent caused a furore this month when it agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump had brought over an interview the storied “60 Minutes” current affairs program aired with Kamala Harris before last November’s election.
The payment was criticised by Democrats as little more than a bribe to help smooth the merger, with Paramount initially dismissing Trump’s lawsuit as meritless.
Last week CBS sparked fury after it cancelled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” whose host is a pointed critic of the President.
The network insisted it was a financial decision, but opponents have painted the move as the latest example of American institutions bowing to Trump.
–Agence France-Presse
