Fact Check: Did Tom Hanks leave US and move to 'undisclosed location' after Trump’s victory?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump won the 2024 US elections by defeating rival and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. This made many celebrities post their views on social media.

However, a new rumor has surfaced over the internet claiming that actor Tom Hanks left the country and moved to an “undisclosed location” post Trump's victory.  Is there any truth to this? Let's find out below.

Claim: Tom Hanks left US and moved to 'undisclosed location' after Trump's win

An X user @MichaelSCollura shared a post on Friday, November 8, claiming that the ‘Forrest Gump’ actor issued a statement where he mentioned that he has moved to an ‘undisclosed location’. The post started with “BREAKING. TOM HANKS HAS LEFT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”

The statement that followed read, “Dear friends and fans, It is with a heavy heart and an even heavier suitcase that I announce: I have officially fled the country. Yes, you heard that right-I am currently writing this from a far-off, undisclosed location, with a beautiful view of... well, something that's definitely not America.”

It continued, “Why am I here, you ask? Let's just say that President Trump 2.0 was a bit more than I was ready for. When I saw the results, I thought, 'Run, Forrest, run!' and that's exactly what I did. Not to mention, the fear of ending up in federal prison had me sprinting faster than a castaway chasing a volleyball.”

The statement further added, “Please don't think of this as me abandoning my beloved country - just think of it as a very long, politically-induced vacation. I'll be back... eventually. O maybe just in time for President Oprah. Love and hope from... somewhere, Tom Hanks.”

The rumor was first circulated by a TikTok user @celiina.t97, according to The Direct.

False: Lack of evidence to support rumor claiming Tom Hanks left US

There is no proper evidence that proves that Tom Hanks has left the country and that the rumors are false, according to The Direct. Moreover, social media platform X's community note has also labeled the post as a 'made up story by a TikTok user'.

The ‘Inferno’ actor had earlier stated during an interview with CNN in June 2024 that there is "always a reason to be worried about the short-term" but added that the "journey to a more perfect union has missteps in it:"

Hanks said, “I think there is always a reason to be worried about the short-term. But I look at the longer term of what happened. Our constitution says, 'We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union.' That journey to a more perfect union has missteps in it, we know. I can catalog them as much as you can … and I’m just a guy that makes movies and reads books.”

Hanks also noted how he has faith in the country and other similar Western societies to "turn towards what is right".

He said, “It comes about, not because of somebody’s narrative of who is right or who is a victim or not, it comes out of the slow melding of truth, to the actual practical life that we end up living … I will always have faith that the United States of America and the western societies that have adopted, more or less, the same sort of democracy, cannot help but turn towards what is right.”

Tom Hanks said in 2016 it would be 'dark day' for US if Trump won presidential election

Tom Hanks told BBC in 2016 that it would be a “dark day for the planet Earth” if Republican candidate Donald Trump won his first term as president.

He also labeled Trump a "self-involved gas bag" before praising the then-Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton.

He said, “Yeah let's talk about that self-involved gas bag. Do you wanna talk about him? Look, if I have an abscessed tooth and I need to see an oral surgeon, I'm not gonna go to the guy who says, ‘You know what, I think I can be a pretty good oral surgeon.’”

He added, “I am going to go to someone who has been doing it for 30 years and has handled it a million times and knows all the small little. I am voting for Hillary Clinton because I think she is wildly, wildly qualified to be the president of the USA, at the same time with dealing with the one damn thing after the other that the world has handed her.”