--- description: Tom Hanks was a voice of calm on Tuesday evening as he reassured an audience at New York's Museum of Modern Art that "we will move forward." title: Tom Hanks Offers Some Post-Election Reassurance image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bd9e509ca1c5c6f/6988aea4bc6cfc080c3df55f/gettyimages-623550562.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Tom Hanks Has a Post-Election Message for America by [Suyin Haynes](/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 16, 2016 1:30 PM CUT  Honoree Tom Hanks speaks onstage at the MoMA Film Benefit presented by CHANEL, A Tribute To Tom Hanks at MOMA on Nov. 15, 2016 in New York City. Honoree Tom Hanks speaks onstage at the MoMA Film Benefit presented by CHANEL, A Tribute To Tom Hanks at MOMA on Nov. 15, 2016 in New York City.Dimitrios Kambouris—WireImage by [Suyin Haynes](/author/suyin-haynes/) ## Suyin Haynes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 16, 2016 1:30 PM CUT Tom Hanks was a voice of calm on Tuesday evening as he reassured an audience at New York’s Museum of Modern Art that “we are going to be all right” in the wake of a highly divisive [presidential election](http://time.com/4572821/donald-trump-cabinet-finalists-transition/?xid=homepage "undefined"). Hanks made the remarks during his speech at the [museum’s ninth annual film benefit](https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/3616?locale=en "undefined"), dedicated to the actor’s life and works. Hanks, who [previously criticized](http://time.com/4528931/tom-hanks-on-donald-trump-women-comments/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") the now President-elect Donald Trump during the [election campaign season](http://time.com/4307323/tom-hands-donald-trump-spaceships-dinosaurs/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), addressed the shock felt by many at last week’s result. However, actor’s speech had a positive tone, encouraging those listening to remember that “We constantly get to define ourselves as Americans. We do have the greatest country in the world.” Responding to a call for him to run as the Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, Hanks said “Just because I’m an actor, I can give a good speech, I agree with that,” [Vulture reports](http://time.com/4572821/donald-trump-cabinet-finalists-transition/?xid=homepage "undefined"). “But the concept of actually voting for someone just because they can do that? Then Monty Hall could have been President of the United States!” Hanks referred to the American Constitution as well as the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen in his speech, before reassuring the audience that “We are going to be all right…we will move forward, because if we do not move forward, what is to be said about us?” \[[_Vulture_](http://www.vulture.com/2016/11/let-tom-hanks-reassure-america-well-be-okay.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4572858/tom-hanks-post-election-reassurance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4572858/tom-hanks-post-election-reassurance/"},"headline":"Tom Hanks Has a Post-Election Message for America","datePublished":"2016-11-16T13:30:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:38:42.744Z","description":"\"We will move forward, because if we do not move forward, what is to be said about us?\"","url":"https://time.com/4572858/tom-hanks-post-election-reassurance/","keywords":["celebrities","Newsfeed","Tom Hanks","2016 presidential election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bd9e509ca1c5c6f/6988aea4bc6cfc080c3df55f/gettyimages-623550562.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Suyin Haynes","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/suyin-haynes/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bd9e509ca1c5c6f/6988aea4bc6cfc080c3df55f/gettyimages-623550562.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MoMA Film Benefit Presented By CHANEL, A Tribute To Tom Hanks - Inside","caption":"MoMA Film Benefit Presented By CHANEL, A Tribute To Tom Hanks - Inside","creditText":"Dimitrios Kambouris—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4572858/tom-hanks-post-election-reassurance/","name":"Tom Hanks Has a Post-Election Message for America"}}]}] ```