Is Tom Hanks Really A Donald Trump Supporter? Actor’s Comments Confuse Some Conservatives

Tom Hanks is a beloved actor who has starred in patriotic movies like Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, A League of Their Own, and Forrest Gump. You could argue that he’s a national treasure, so a political party would love to have him on their team. This may be why some conservative websites have started claiming that Tom Hanks is a Donald Trump supporter. But is it really true that the Oscar winner is backing the former Celebrity Apprentice host’s presidential bid?

On Friday, the Google Trends Twitter page revealed a list of the day’s top trending questions about Donald Trump and his rival, Hillary Clinton. The most popular query about the GOP nominee is whether Tom Hanks is rooting for Donald Trump in the presidential race.

View the top trending questions on Clinton and Trump today pic.twitter.com/KgEy74v4Vv

— GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) July 29, 2016

According to Snopes, curious voters were asking this question because of a “flurry” of posts on right-wing websites claiming that Tom Hanks is a fan of Donald Trump.

“In the snake pit that is Hollywood and the liberal media, he is a beacon of decency,” Conservative 101 writes of Tom Hanks. “So it will likely not surprise you to learn to learn which candidate Hanks plans to vote for in November: Republican nominee Donald Trump.”

The website goes on to claim that Tom Hanks is “concerned about the state of our country after all the damage Barack Obama has caused it.” However, Hanks is an Obama supporter. According to the Huffington Post, the actor even narrated a pro-Obama biopic in 2012.

Conservative 101 contradicts itself by sharing a Tom Hanks quote from a CBS This Morning interview meant to back its claim. According to Hanks, he’s not “concerned” about the state of America at all because he believes in the country’s ability to bounce back.

“America’s going to be fine,” Hanks responded when he was asked if he was prepared for President Trump. “We’re the greatest, most resilient nation in the history of, of civilized, in all of civilization. We’ve worked ourselves out of holes many, many times over and over again.”

There is none of the aforementioned talk about “damage” caused by Barack Obama, and Tom Hanks’ words were not an endorsement of Trump; on the contrary, the actor seemingly isn’t worried about Donald Trump becoming president because he believes that the reality show star is incompletely inept.

During the CBS This Morning interview, Tom Hanks jokingly referred to Donald Trump as “the president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce,” and this isn’t the first time he’s mocked the businessman’s White House bid. A month later, Hanks dismissed the idea of Trump winning the presidential race during an interview with the Radio Times.

“I met him at a charity thing 12 years ago,” Hanks revealed.

The actor was asked whether he walked away with the impression that Donald Trump had the potential to be a future president.

“No. And I still don’t think that,” he said.

The Bridge of Spies star said something similar about Trump’s chances of becoming president during an interview with Sky News.

“I think that man will be president right about the time when spaceships come down filled with dinosaurs in red capes.”

Hanks has also revealed that he’s not a fan of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan because he believes that “America’s already great.”

So who is Tom Hanks supporting in the presidential race? Variety reports that he paid $2,700 to attend a Hillary Clinton fundraiser in August of last year, so it looks like he’s with her.

[Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]