Charlie Kirk embraces 'South Park' parody of him in upcoming episode as a 'badge of honor'
In a teaser released Tuesday for its upcoming episode, Kirk's likeness was adopted by iconic "South Park" character Eric Cartman, who is seen with a hairstyle similar to the conservative firebrand and is in a heated spat with a classmate, mirroring Kirk's exchanges with students on college campuses.
"You can just shut up, Bebe, because you hate America and you love abortion," Cartman shouts at fellow student Bebe Stevens.
Kirk quickly embraced the parody, changing his X profile picture to a screenshot of Cartman and posting to his over 5 million followers, "I'm so watching this."
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Kirk said he laughed when he first saw the teaser, saying multiple people sent him the clip. He initially thought it was "some sort of AI troll."
"I think it's kind of funny and it kind of goes to show the cultural impact and the resonance that our movement has been able to achieve," Kirk told Fox News Digital. "So I look at this as a badge of honor."
Kirk said he hasn't seen as much of "South Park" in recent years as he did in high school, but appreciated the long-running animated series being an "equal opportunity offender."
While it's unclear what Cartman's Kirk-like persona does in the episode, which will air August 6, last week's season premiere may give a clue.
In the previous episode, Cartman is demoralized after it is declared that "woke is dead," causing the foul-mouthed, offensive fourth-grader to have an identity crisis as everyone else in South Park sheds their cultural sensitivities. Meanwhile, controversy erupted in his hometown when South Park Elementary began injecting Christianity into school, even going so far as having Jesus Christ looming in the hallways.
"I'm excited to watch it because, look, we as conservatives need to be able to take a joke, right? We shouldn't take ourselves so seriously," Kirk said. "That's something that the left has always done to great detriment to themselves and their movement."
"They're professional comedians. They're probably gonna roast me, and I think that's fine. And that's what it's all about, being in public life and, you know, making a difference. And I'm gonna have a good spirit about it. I'll watch it. I'm going to laugh at it," Kirk continued. "From a religious standpoint, we're all sinners. We all fall short of the glory of God. Like from a more practical life standpoint, we're all broken people. Stop taking yourself so seriously. That's probably one of the problems that we've had in our politics is that people can't take a joke."
"South Park," which airs on Comedy Central, held no punches against President Donald Trump after the network's parent company Paramount reached a major settlement with him earlier this month to resolve his "60 Minutes" lawsuit.
In the 27th season premiere, Trump was repeatedly compared to the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (who "South Park" had previously satirized during the Iraq War), depicted him as literally being in bed with Satan, and was lampooned for leveling lawsuit threats. The episode quickly went viral for showing a life-like graphic depiction of the president and his genitalia.
"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," White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. "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."
Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of "South Park," recently reached a whopping $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount.
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