'South Park' Season 26 Officially Retired One of Its Most Controversial Characters

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Published Sep 10, 2026, 12:08 AM EDT

South Park has never been shy about parodying and satirizing pop culture and current events. And before its recent turn, where creators Trey Parker and** Matt Stone** made Donald Trump the butt of their jokes, Season 26 made a significant change, retiring an old joke that was already starting to sour. For years, *South Park *had already been satirizing Trump, and during the president’s initial 2015 campaign, the character **Mr. Garrison **(Parker) became a vehicle for that comedy. Mr. Garrison has been the subject of controversies before, so him picking up the persona of Trump, donning a suit, red tie, and orange makeup, isn’t necessarily a shocking twist. But the show was right to leave this aspect of the character behind.

In the Season 26 finale, “Spring Break,” Mr. Garrison and his boyfriend, **Rick **(Stone), go on a vacation together to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. While on the boardwalk, Garrison comes upon a Trump-themed shop, selling all the merchandise from his Trump persona. In a commentary on addiction, Garrison soon becomes addicted to acting like Trump once again, after giving it up in a prior season. Although the episode was not rated the highest, the plotline still brought some detrimental consequences for the character of Garrison and his path moving forward on the show. After being threatened with the end of his relationship with Rick, Garrison vows to quit the Trump routine in the hopes of keeping Rick in his life. The finale ends with the two of them making amends.

Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.

You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.

You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.

You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.

You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.

You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.

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