# Tom Hanks revives David S. Pumpkins to lampoon Trump’s midterm campaign

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/tom-hanks-returns-as-david-s-pumpkins-for-saturday-night-live-halloween-themed-opener-interrupted-by-donald-trumps-midterm-malaise/
- Published: 2026-11-01T06:32:34+00:00
- Original publisher: Deadline
- Original article: https://deadline.com/2026/10/saturday-night-live-open-tom-hanks-trump-halloween-1237210760/
- Topics: Elections, Politics

## Key points

- Tom Hanks returned as David S. Pumpkins.
- The sketch mocked Trump’s midterm concerns.
- It referenced the close Texas Senate race.

## Summary

The new coverage adds details of how the Saturday Night Live opener used David S. Pumpkins to parody Donald Trump’s closing midterm campaign messages. Tom Hanks reprised the character, whose Halloween ride appearance was interrupted by James Austin Johnson’s Trump, portrayed as worried about Republican prospects.

The sketch referenced polls showing Republicans doing poorly, a potentially close Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, and Trump’s comments about men’s appearances. It also joked about Nicki Minaj as a possible press secretary and featured Veronika Slowikowska as Katie Zacharia; Hanks first played Pumpkins in 2016, shortly before Trump’s first presidential election.

## Coverage

- [Deadline: Tom Hanks revives David S. Pumpkins to lampoon Trump’s midterm campaign](https://deadline.com/2026/10/saturday-night-live-open-tom-hanks-trump-halloween-1237210760/)
- [Consequence: Trump Ruins David S. Pumpkins’ Return to SNL](https://consequence.net/2026/11/trump-ruins-david-s-pumpkins-return-to-snl/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.