Former “Parks and Recreation” star Adam Scott said America lost its “innocence” after President Donald Trump began his campaign in 2015 and questioned whether his series could be made today.
While promoting his new film “Hokum,” Scott spoke to Variety on Thursday about his role on the sitcom, which focused on the Parks and Recreation Department of a fictional small town.
The series ran for seven seasons and aired between 2009–2015, ending before the 2016 presidential election.
Looking back on the series, Scott remarked that the U.S. has lost a lot of “what was left of its innocence” since the show ended.
“I think back on ‘Parks and Rec’ and the hope and joy that it brings people,” Scott told Variety.
“It’s so lovely to hear from people that it helped them through the pandemic or helps them through trying times now. And it is a dark time right now. And I do feel like our country may have lost what was left of its innocence in 2015, when Donald Trump stepped up and stepped into politics. And it’s easy to forget just how much our country has changed in the last 10 or 11 years.”
Despite his comment, Scott maintained that there’s “always an audience” for upbeat sitcoms and pointed to the ongoing ABC sitcom “Abbott Elementary” as an example.
“But as far as whether it could kind of survive or how it would sit in the now if it started now: Certainly, it would be different,” Scott said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Scott’s former co-star Nick Offerman previously criticized people in 2025 who suggested that his character, Ron Swanson, would have voted for Trump in 2016.
“Dumb people insist that Ron Swanson would’ve voted for Trump. And I don’t deign to answer myself. I take it to Mike Schur, the main creator of Ron, and he said, ‘Swanson would’ve despised Trump, because Ron loved capitalism. And Trump made the stupidest move you could make as a capitalist, which is to go into public service,’” Offerman said.
Offerman added that Swanson wouldn’t have voted for Trump because “he’s disrespectful to women and many others,” which would have struck a major nerve with his character because he’s a “good person.”
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