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South Park mocks Trump with Bitcoin gifts while satirizing AI and Washington’s militarization.
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The White House condemns the series as “fourth-rate” amid growing political controversy.
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The show continues its tradition of lampooning crypto, from Matt Damon’s ads to NFTs and Bitcoin.
The enduring animated comedy show South Park targeted US President Donald Trump in its recent episode, “Sickofancy,” which premiered on Wednesday. The program satirized Trump’s connections to cryptocurrency by depicting altered versions of tech executives, including what seemed to be Microsoft CEO Sundar Pichai and venture capitalist David Sacks, queuing up to present him with Bitcoin presents totaling $113,222 while lavishing him with compliments. The scenarios heightened critiques of Trump’s pro-crypto stance, which have faced examination due to his family’s increasing engagement in digital assets through initiatives including a trading platform, stablecoin, token projects, and a mining operation.
While Trump’s personality overshadowed certain aspects of the narrative, a significant portion of the episode’s satire focused on the United States’ reliance on artificial intelligence. One subplot depicted a cannabis grower transforming his failing business into an AI enterprise following an ICE raid that displaced his employees. Another sequence showed Washington, D.C., overwhelmed by military troops after Trump deployed the National Guard. Consistent with its style, South Park maintained its recurring jokes, depicting Trump with oversized physical traits and next to Satan, while Vice President JD Vance was shown as a chubby-faced infant.
White House backlash and South Park’s ongoing crypto satire
The White House did not respond positively to the portrayal. Authorities denounced the program as a “mediocre show” that had become culturally irrelevant, alleging it depended on sensationalism to capture interest. This season has sparked political debate, starting in late July with an episode mocking Paramount’s $16 million settlement with Trump regarding a “60 Minutes” interview featuring Kamala Harris. Paramount’s $1.5 billion acquisition of South Park’s streaming rights secures the show’s presence on a significant platform, despite receiving backlash from political figures. In the season premiere, an AI-created deepfake of Trump undressing in the desert intensified anger from the White House.
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South Park has a long history of crypto satire. In 2022, the series mocked Matt Damon’s advertisement for Crypto.com. In 2021, it targeted non-fungible tokens, humorously suggesting they were presented as “worthy investments,” and in a different episode from that year, Bitcoin was portrayed as the prevalent payment method of the future, with characters remarking that centralized banking was corrupt and people preferred “shady Ponzi schemes.”
After almost 28 years on air, South Park persistently mocks the convergence of politics, technology, and culture. The newest episode solidifies the series’ status for sharp satire, combining insights on crypto, AI, and Trump-era politics into a single irreverent narrative.
