"Saturday Night Live" returned just in time for a political fright night.
With the hotly contested midterm elections set for Tuesday, Nov. 3, just three days away, the NBC sketch comedy show had plenty of political material for its Halloween night cold open on Oct. 31.
But first it was Tom Hanks, who made a surprise Halloween return as his beloved "SNL" character David S. Pumpkins during a Halloween tomb tour. "I'm going to freak you out," Pumpkins said during a strange dance in the character's third appearance. "I'm David Pumpkins, man. A Halloween guy."
James Austin Johnson's President Donald Trump interrupted with a bizarre midterm election message, noting the many things in common he has with Pumpkins. "We both appeared in 2016, we're both loud,
very orange and very annoying."
history’s most heinous, homicidal haunts pic.twitter.com/udeRgaZLhw
— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) November 1, 2026
Trump couldn't resist admiring Hanks' backside.
"Great ass on Hanks," Johnson's Trump said. "I've been doing that lately, admiring men's asses. Not that there's anything wrong with that, except I might be gay. They're calling it gay dementia. Dementia short for 'men show me their butts.'"
Trump lamented on the latest midterm polls.
"They say we're doing very badly. They're saying Texas is turning purple, just like my hand," Trump said, displaying his discolored hand. "And if it goes blue, just like my hand, I'll leave it for dead."
Trump also took notice of Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, calling him better-looking than Republican Ken Paxton and admiring his "dynamite ass."
The president gave former White House press secretary Katie Zacharia (Veronika Slowikowska), the chance to "redeem herself" and deliver the show's famous opening line. The now-unemployed law degree holder promptly botched, saying, "Live from New York, and from so many cities!"
Hanks was handed the honor of yelling, "Liiiiivvve from New York, it's Saturday Night!"
Episode 4 of Season 52 marked the return of "SNL" after a two-week hiatus, putting the show back on the air for the final weekend before voters headed to the polls.
"Obsession" standout Inde Navarrette hosted the Halloween episode, with Gracie Abrams as musical guest.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump lets Katie Zacharia botch 'SNL' cold open, admires Tom Hanks' butt
