In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, some conservatives are pointing fingers at South Park for mocking the conservative thought leader in a recent episode, while Comedy Central pulled the episode from a scheduled repeat Wednesday night.

The second episode of the current season of Comedy Central’s satirical hit — titled “Got a Nut” — had Eric Cartman becoming a right-wing podcaster and spouting tropes used by Kirk, who tours college campuses debating progressive students. “Who wants to debate the master debater?” demanded Cartman, who also took on Kirk’s hairstyle and later attended a ceremony giving out “The Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebaters.”

The mockery was pretty tame by South Park standards (certainly kinder than its treatment of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem in the same episode). After the episode aired, Kirk seemed thrilled by the episode and posted a TikTok (below) reacting by calling the episode “hilarious” and noted “South Park gets this right.” The Turning Point USA founder added, “We have a good spirit about being made fun of. This is all a win. We as conservatives have thick skin, not thin skin, and you can make fun of us and it doesn’t matter.”

But after Kirk’s tragic murder at Utah Valley University while engaged in the same sort of college campus debate the episode poked fun of, some MAGA conservatives are blasting the show.

According to the New York Post, one Turning Point USA staffer posted on Telegram, “Comedy has consequences. Charlie was targeted in the culture before he was targeted in real life” and right-wing radio host Jesse Kelly told his listeners: “South Park thought it was funny to turn Charlie into a cartoon joke. Now his wife is planning a funeral.”

The Daily Beast spotted some other comments on social media: “Let’s blame South Park. Blame the media. Blame leftist rhetoric. These people hate you and want to see you dead.” And: “South Park certainly fomented the hatred necessary to get Kirk assassinated.” And: “[South Park creators] Trey Parker and Matt Stone are responsible for this.” While a popular account called Johnny MAGA dubbed South Park “monsters” for the episode.

That said, many others on the right — perhaps even the majority — were quick to note they do not blame the series. One “MAGA” labeled X account wrote, “I don’t blame South Park. They aren’t our leaders, representatives, mentors, pastors, example setters or societal caretakers. They are satire!”

Comedy Central had no immediate comment on yesterday’s scrapped repeat, and the episode was still available on Paramount+ as of Thursday morning. Pulling episodes that unintentionally intersect with a violent real-life tragedy is a common practice as a respectful effort to not to inflame or take advantage of the situation.

Given South Park has been on a tear going after President Trump and MAGA this season, and frequently pivots at the last minute to tackle current events in their episodes, it will be interesting to see what creators Parker and Stone focus on when the show returns next week amid its new biweekly rollout schedule this season.

On a Reddit thread about the episode being pulled, fans agreed not airing the episode was “the polite thing to do” while also concurring that South Park doesn’t deserve blame for the real-life violence. “Probably a smart decision, no matter your feeling on him; don’t give either side reason to exploit this,” wrote one. While another opined, “You really can’t fault them for not predicting this; I don’t think anyone could have predicted this series of events with him literally talking about gun violence as he was being shot.”

Paramount has taken down a recent episode of South Park that mocked Charlie Kirk in the aftermath of the MAGA activist’s assassination on Wednesday – sort of.

While the “Got a Nut” episode is still available on Paramount+, it can no longer be seen in the swath of South Park reruns on Comedy Central.

As the manhunt for 31-year-old Kirk’s killer continues, despite FBI Director Kash Patel at one point yesterday saying online that a “subject” was in custody and then released, some MAGA supporters have partial pointed the finger at South Park for the tragic shooting. Paramount had no comment on the episode being pulled, but sources close to the situation say it likely is “only temporary” until the political temperature comes down.

The show, the second episode of the Trey Parker and Matt Stone created satire’s current 27th Season, was removed from being shown on the cable channel in the hours following the fatal shooting of Kirk at Utah Valley University on September 10. Originally airing on August 6, “Got a Nut,” which parodied Kirk’s Prove Me Wrong debate approach as well as ICE’s masked raids and JD Vance‘s relationship with Donald Trump, was replaced with the Season 27th opener of “Sermon on the Mount.”

RELATED: Stephen Colbert Reacts To “Abhorrent” Charlie Kirk Shooting & Condemns Political Violence

Of note, when “Got a Nut” premiered early last month, Kirk told Fox News on August 7 the episode was a “badge of honor.” That was a very similar reaction to Vice President JD Vance, who said “I finally made it” after he was slammed as leering sycophant to wannabe dictator Trump. Unlike Vance, Kirk even changed his profile pic briefly on his much watched YouTube page to that of South Park’s Eric Cartman as an homage. Kirk also gave South Park a shout out on X on August 6 with a “Not bad Cartman.”

MSNBC fired senior political analyst Matthew Dowd after he suggested on air that slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s own radical rhetoric may have contributed to the shooting that killed him.

During his appearance on Katy Tur Reports, Dowd suggested that Kirk’s rhetoric may have contributed to the violence that claimed his life. Kirk, 31, had a history of rightwing provocation and Christian nationalism, and frequently espoused bigoted rhetoric about Islam, women , LGBTQ+ communities and people of color.

“Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions,” Dowd said, adding: “You can’t stop with these sort of awful thoughts you have and then saying these awful words and then not expect awful actions to take place.”

Dowd also speculated about the circumstances of the shooting, saying: “We don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration. So we have no idea about this.”

The network issued an apology and announced Dowd’s dismissal, which came shortly after Kirk was shot dead during a question-and-answer session at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where he was kicking off a nationwide campus debate tour. MSNBC president Rebecca Kutler described Dowd’s comments as “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable” in a statement posted to social media.

“We apologize for his statements, as has he,” Kutler wrote. “There is no place for violence in America, political or otherwise.”

The network almost immediately severed ties with Dowd, with Deadline reporting that MSNBC had cut its relationship with the analyst citing “furor over remarks he made in the aftermath of the shooting”.

Dowd, who served as chief strategist for George W Bush’s 2004 presidential campaign and was formerly a political analyst for ABC News, issued his own apology following the controversy.

Writing on Bluesky, he said: “My thoughts & prayers are w/ the family and friends of Charlie Kirk. On an earlier appearance on MSNBC I was asked a question on the environment we are in. I apologize for my tone and words. Let me be clear, I in no way intended for my comments to blame Kirk for this horrendous attack. Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind.”

Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent figure in conservative youth politics who had been credited with boosting the Maga youth vote during the 2024 election, was fatally shot in the neck during the campus event on Wednesday afternoon, with multiple videos of the moment spreading across social media.

Federal authorities are investigating the shooting, with two persons of interest initially taken into custody before being released. Both were briefly detained but released without charge, and a suspect is still at-large.

The killing has drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum.