'South Park's anti-Trump episode was its biggest season premiere in years

South Park's Season 27 premiere didn't just stir up controversy — it stirred up big ratings for Comedy Central and Paramount+.

According to a statement from Paramount, the episode, which featured a scene of President Donald Trump in bed with Satan, as well a hyperrealistic deepfake of a naked Trump, scored 5.9 million cross-platform viewers across Comedy Central and Paramount+. These numbers come from Nielsen, which defines the total number of viewers by global watch time divided by run time over the course of the first three days the episode was out, from July 24 to July 26.

The episode also earned South Park its biggest linear season premiere share since 1999 and was up 68 percent from from its Season 26 premiere. In addition, the episode brought in South Park's best season premiere rating since 2022.

The premiere went viral on social media as well, with Paramount claiming it's the "#1 most social episode ever for South Park." #SouthPark trended on X for over 12 hours (five of which were spent in the top spot), and at the time of writing this, the Trump deepfake PSA has raked in 4.4 million views on YouTube.

Following the premiere, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers bashed South Park in a statement sent to Variety, Rolling Stone, and The Hollywood Reporter among other outlets.

"This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention," Rogers said in the statement. "President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country’s history – and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak."

For a "fourth-rate show," though, it's clear people are watching.