Tom Hanks returned to Saturday Night Live as David S. Pumpkins for a Halloween-themed opener, albeit his skit was suddenly interrupted by Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) as he implored supporters to try to prevent a potential midterm drubbing.
“The midterms are on Tuesday, and the polls say we’re doing very badly,” Johnson’s Trump said. “Ahhh. They are saying Texas is turning purple, just like my hands. And if it goes blue, then just like my hand, I will leave it for dead.”
The skit spoofed some of Trump’s closing midterm messaging, including his admiration for men’s asses, the suggestion that Nicki Minaj would be his new press secretary, and some of the strange grunting noises he has uttered at rallies.
It’s been just over 10 years that Hanks first appeared as Pumpkins, a strange man who shows up in a Halloween attraction wearing a cheap black and orange pumpkin suit and flanked by two men in dancing skeleton outfits. Hanks’ first cameo as the character took place just a couple of weeks before Trump’s first election to the White House.
Watch on Deadline
Saturday’s opener started with a couple taking an amusement park ride, only to be confused by Pumpkins’ appearance in what was supposed to be a scary attraction. Then, Trump interrupted the skit, noting that Pumpkins “keeps popping up and confusing people on the ride. The end!”
Johnson’s Trump went on, “But you know, I actually have a lot in common with Mr. Pumpkins. We both appeared in 2016. We’re both very loud, very orange, and very frankly annoying, but we love Tom Hanks.”
Hanks tried to stay in freeze frame as Johnson’s Trump talked. “Look at him back there. Good acting, great ass,” Trump said. “That’s something I’ve been doing lately — admiring men’s asses. Not that there’s anything wrong with that — just that I might be gay.”
In reality, Trump has been talking about men’s asses — specifically the behind of Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH), seeking to hold on to his seat against Democrat Sherrod Brown.
Johnson’s Trump went on, “They’re calling it gay dementia. Dementia, short for dementia, show me their butts.”
The skit also made reference to the U.S. Senate race in Texas, where Trump and Republicans have invested heavily in Ken Paxton’s race against Democrat James Talarico, hoping to keep the U.S. Senate from flipping. But Paxton has had a series of corruption scandals that has made the race a tossup, and even Trump has remarked on the candidate’s lackluster appearance.
Johnson’s Trump said, “You gotta vote for that awful Ken Paxton. God, what an ugly son of a bitch! I hate, I hate Ken Paxton, but you got to vote for him because we can’t have this Talafreako, who is frankly much better looking and wow, what a dynamite ass! It’s like a pillowcase full of comforts back there.”
The skit also featured an appearance by Saidah Belo-Osagie as Minaj, who has appeared at Trump’s rallies. “She’s got quite an ass. If only it were on a man, perhaps I could admire it,” Johnson’s Trump said.
Also making a brief appearance was Veronika Slowikowska as Katie Zacharia, whose recent tenure as press secretary lasted less than a week. The real Zacharia had talked about who she would want to play her on SNL, and mentioned Scarlett Johansson. That was not to be.