South Park Republican

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A South Park Republican is a type of Republican who holds center-right political beliefs influenced by the popular American animated television series South Park . Many may hold generally conservative views on fiscal issues, but more moderate or liberal in regard to social issues such as LGBTQ rights and abortion. The term is arguably a contemporary variation on the older classical liberal, with an overlay of pop culture aesthetic. The term was coined by Andrew Sullivan in 2001. [1] [2] [3]

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Political views of Trey Parker and Matt Stone

Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the two creators of South Park, have been vocal opponents of both the Republican and Democratic parties. At an online forum (South Park Studios Chat, May 10, 2001), [4] Parker and Stone wrote that they hated both conservatives and liberals, with Stone famously stating "I hate conservatives but I really fucking hate liberals." In 2006, Trey Parker commented in an interview that they were aware of the concept of the South Park Republican and they both felt that they were "just pretty middle-ground guys." [5]

Parker and Stone are often speculated to be libertarians. In an interview documented by Rolling Stone in 2004, they both contended that the libertarian label which had been applied to them in recent years was not entirely appropriate. [6] During an appearance on The Charlie Rose Show , [7] Stone said that they "just play devil's advocate all the time", personifying both sides of the argument and taking "a little funny way out" to differ from the Hollywood liberals in the acting community.

At a 2006 conference in Amsterdam organized by Reason , Parker and Stone stated that if one had to put a label on them, it would be libertarian. [8]

Religious views of Trey Parker and Matt Stone

Parker and Stone have been condemned by many religions yet have said atheists have been their most vocal group regarding religion, they were quoted as saying, "We got calls from atheists friends a couple times saying, 'What the fuck, we thought you were on our side?' and we say, 'We're not on anybody's fucking side and we're not atheists.'" [9]

Satire of the second presidency of Donald Trump

The 27th season's premiere, "Sermon on the 'Mount," lampooned the second administration of Donald Trump, depicting Trump similarly to the show's past depiction of Saddam Hussein and included a deepfake video of him stumbling in the desert naked, parodying the He Gets Us ad campaign. The episode also depicted Trump in a relationship with Satan and referenced his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Trump administration negatively responded to the episode by calling South Park "irrelevant" and "fourth-rate" in a statement after the episode's premiere. The show would continue to lampoon the Trump administration in the second episode of the season, depicting Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Vice President JD Vance. [10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Andrew Sullivan: South Park Republicans are the future". The Times and The Sunday Times. December 21, 2003. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  2. ↑ Bacharach, Jacob (April 3, 2020). "Watching South Park at the End of the World". The New Republic. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  3. ↑ Tierney, John (August 29, 2006). "South Park Refugees". The New York Times. Retrieved March 16, 2025.
  4. ↑ "South Park Studios Chat with Matt and Trey". www.southparkwillie.com.
  5. ↑ Cogan, Brian (2008). "Just Don't Bother to Vote or Die, Bitch!". Mosh the Polls: Youth Voters, Popular Culture, and Democratic Engagement. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 219. ISBN   9780739130469.
  6. ↑ Grigoriadis, Vanessa (March 22, 2007). "'South Park': Still Sick, Still Wrong". Rolling Stone . New York City: Wenner Media.
  7. ↑ "Trey Parker & Matt Stone". The Charlie Rose Show. September 26, 2005. PBS. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021 – via YouTube.
  8. ↑ Tierney, John (August 31, 2006). "South Park Refugees". Reason . Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  9. ↑ Leo, Alex (December 6, 2017). "Matt Stone & Trey Parker Are Not Your Political Allies (No Matter What You Believe)". HuffPost .
  10. ↑ "The White House vexed by a South Park episode mocking Donald Trump". Radio-Canada. July 25, 2025. Retrieved July 26, 2025.

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