‘South Park’ targets federal takeover of Washington, DC, police in latest episode

NEW YORK (AP) — “South Park” is continuing its cartoon assault on the Trump administration, with an episode on Wednesday that addresses the federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s police department.

A 20-second promo of this week’s episode released by Comedy Central depicts the show’s recurring character “Towelie” — an anthropomorphic towel — riding in a bus past the U.S. Supreme Court building and White House, where armed troops are patrolling. A tank rolls by in front of the White House.

“This seems like a perfect place for a towel,” the character says upon disembarking the bus.

“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone recently signed a reported $1.5 billion, five-year deal with Paramount for new episodes and streaming rights to their series, which began its 27th season this summer.

Their second episode of the season depicted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shooting puppies, a reference to a story from the former South Dakota governor’s biography where she said she killed the family dog because of its behavioral issues. Noem is also depicted being trailed by a team of beauticians having to reattach her face.

“It’s so easy to make fun of women for how they look,” Noem told Glenn Beck in response to the episode.

The season premiere mocked President Donald Trump’s body in a raunchy manner and depicted him sharing a bed with Satan.

The White House has dismissed “South Park” as a fourth-rate, no-longer-relevant show. But it has been attracting attention; Comedy Central said the Noem episode had the highest audience share in the show’s history, a reference to the percentage of people with televisions on watching the cartoon.

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