'South Park' trolls DHS for using screengrab to recruit ICE agents: 'So we ARE relevant?'
Just when some fans thought the feud between "South Park" and the White House reached an impasse.
The raunchy comedy showed no signs of easing up this week, with more jabs at President Donald Trump as a 20-second teaser for its Aug. 6 episode featured an image of Trump sitting at a dinner table with Satan. The moment depicts Trump rubbing Satan's leg under the table before Satan tells him to stop.
Despite the ongoing satirical jabs, Homeland Security's official X account shared a screengrab from that trailer to encourage people to apply for jobs at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The still depicts multiple masked and armed ICE agents storming a road in the same direction, with a link to the agency's careers page.
"Wait, so we ARE relevant?" the "South Park" X account replied to the Aug. 5 post before telling the agency to "eat a bag of [expletive]."
The show's Season 27 premiere last month made a not-so-subtle dig at Trump, who was depicted cuddling in bed with Satan, his lover, using actual photos of the president crudely placed on an animated body. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers later dismissed the episode, calling the Comedy Central staple a "fourth-rate show" that "hasn't been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention."
The controversial episode, titled "Sermon on the Mount," proved to be a ratings juggernaut, marking the show's most-watched season premiere since 1999, with viewership up 68% from last season's premiere, according to Paramount Global.
The Aug. 5 post from Homeland Security comes amid a massive recruitment campaign to hire more than 14,000 immigration agents, attorneys, and other workers. Through his federal spending plan, Trump aims to have enough ICE agents to execute his border crackdown and the goal of deporting 1 million people a year.
What time does the next 'South Park' episode drop?
The newest episode of "South Park" Season 27 is set to drop Wednesday, Aug. 6, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central.
The episode will be available to stream on Paramount+ the following day, Aug. 7, at 6 am ET/3 a.m. PT, according to the streaming platform.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Trevor Hughes, Sara Chernikoff, and Fernando Cervantes Jr., Paste BN