“America without its national parks is like McDonald’s without the hamburgers”: Nick Offerman slams government cuts to U.S. national parks
Nick Offerman, beloved for his hard-drinking, woodworking persona Ron Swanson on Parks and Rec, took a shot at President Trump and Musk (who previously led DOGE) during a recent appearance on The Daily Show.
Nick Offerman's Daily Show moment
He unloaded on the sharp budget cuts inflicted on America's national parks—some steep, some straight‑up wild—and made his message blunt:
“I have several undeniable loves in my life. The oaky notes of a barrel-aged whiskey, an old-fashioned plumb bob dangling over a red cedar plank, my blushing bride’s hoo-ha, and of course, America’s national parks.”
Then he fired off a burning question: why strip $267 million from park funding, only to claw back $90 million by jacking up foreign visitor fees? “Now, I’m no mathematician, but I believe that’s called sh–ting the bed,” Offerman quipped.
Offerman backs his point with hard data: nearly 24% of park staff have been let go since Trump took office. That’s forcing scientists to pick up toilet brushes and park rangers to beg visitors for likes just to stay afloat.
“It’s like Good Will Hunting in reverse,” he joked—but then got serious: parks inject $55.6 billion into the U.S. economy and support over 415,000 jobs. Losing that hurts more than just scenery—it slashes livelihoods."
Clearing the Ron Swanson confusion
This isn’t the first time Offerman has weighed in on politics.
He’s also squashed rumors that his iconic character Ron Swanson would’ve backed Trump. In a recent interview, he made it explicit: “Like, dumb people insist that Ron Swanson would've voted for Trump.”
He pointed to showrunner Mike Schur, who said Swanson would have despised Trump for entering public service—something Swanson, a classical libertarian, couldn’t stand.
Similar to his character, though, Offerman echoed a similar sentiment to Ron in his defense on the Daily Show when he said the "true miracle of our national parks" is that it's "an affordable vacation that everyone can take inside our own borders, whether you’re traveling with your family or abandoning your constituents during a crisis."
Off‑screen activism
Offerman hasn’t been silent off-screen, either. He’s not afraid to step into the spotlight on issues from environmental protection to celebrating LGBTQ+ rights.
Notably, he marked Pride month by posting, “Ron was best man at a gay wedding you dumb f—. #HappyPride.” Previously, he spoke out against anti-gay hate towards his character on The Last of Us.
Commenters slam the cuts
News of the park funding rollback sparked a wave of angry responses on Reddit. Some users shared firsthand consequences of the policy shift.
“Those [expletive] budget cuts are the reason I spent the last week buried in smoke on the south rim of the Grand Canyon,” one person wrote. “We lost the historic Grand Lodge and our employees on that side lost their housing to a massive wildfire that they couldn't get under control. [Expletive] Trump.”
Others chimed in to settle the long-running debate over Ron Swanson’s political leanings.
“Ronald Swanson would be considered a 'RINO' and tell everyone how utterly stupid they are if he ever ran across a Maga supporter,” one Redditor said.
Another added, “Ron is also a registered Libertarian. If I recall, when Trump went to a Libertarian party, they all laughed at him.”
In the end, Offerman's POV falls somewhere between the two. He concludes, "Let’s face it. America without its national parks is like McDonald’s without the hamburgers. You can still go there, I guess, but at that point it’s kind of just a bathroom.”
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