Kristi Noem Critiques South Park's Parody as "Lazy" and "Petty"
Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security Secretary, voiced her disapproval of South Park’s recent parody, labeling it as “lazy” and “petty.” This critique comes shortly after ICE utilized the show to bolster its recruitment efforts.
During an appearance on Glenn Beck's radio show, Noem admitted she had not viewed the episode, stating she was preoccupied with budgetary matters. Nevertheless, she did not hold back in her criticism of the animated series.
“It never ends, but it’s so lazy to constantly make fun of women for how they look,” Noem remarked, emphasizing her frustration. “It’s always the liberals and the extremists who do that. If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly they can’t; they just pick something petty like that,” she continued.
The South Park episode in question portrayed Noem as an exaggerated ICE agent, complete with glamorous poses, a penchant for botox, and a darkly comedic twist involving puppy killings and racial profiling.
Since her appointment to Trump’s cabinet earlier this year, Noem has been involved in various high-profile photo opportunities, including deportation raids and visits to El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), where she posed in front of a cell filled with prisoners.
South Park has targeted the Trump administration since the premiere of its latest season, taking jabs at President Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their policies, particularly those related to immigration.
In response to his own depiction as a “manbaby” who oils Satan’s behind for Trump, Vance quipped, “Well, I’ve finally made it.”
Interestingly, the Department of Homeland Security's official X account previously shared a screencap from South Park to promote recruitment efforts. The South Park X account retorted with, “Wait, so we ARE relevant?” referencing the White House's dismissal of the show as irrelevant.
Since then, South Park has refrained from further comment on the portrayal. A spokesperson for DHS had earlier issued a statement prior to the episode's airing.
“We want to thank South Park for drawing attention to ICE law enforcement recruitment: We are calling on patriotic Americans to help us remove murderers, gang members, pedophiles, and other violent criminals from our country,” the statement read. It also highlighted benefits for new recruits, including a signing bonus of up to $50,000 and student loan forgiveness.
The season 27 opener of South Park featured Trump lamenting about his micropenis while in bed with Satan, achieving the show's highest premiere ratings since 1999 and becoming the most-watched program across all cable channels that day.
Beck himself was parodied in a previous episode of South Park. He recounted to Noem that it took him a year to learn about this particular episode, eventually watching it with his son years later.
The episode titled “Dances with Smurfs,” which aired in 2009, showcased Eric Cartman emulating Beck by using his school announcement platform to accuse the student body president of wanting to kill smurfs.
