Is Biff In Back To The Future 2 Actually Donald Trump?

As part of our series on mind-blowing movie fan theories, we’re changing the way you watch some of Hollywood’s most famous films. Today, in honour of ‘Back To The Future’ Day, it’s the sequel ‘Back To The Future Part II’.

The theory
Having thought about altering the future by giving his younger self the Sports Almanac, which then falls into his nemesis’s hands, Marty McFly returns to an alternate 1985 where Biff Tannen has become the richest and most powerful man on Earth. A man who has a LOT in common with a certain Presidential candidate.

It’s a theory that is very popular on the internet and even mentioned on the film’s IMDB trivia page, but is true?

The evidence
Er, look at him. It’s hard to deny that Bizarro Biff’s hairdo looks remarkably similar to the political frontrunner’s today. In 1985the real trump looked like this:

Which isn’t quite as bad, but still makes you think - did Trump sit in a darkened cinema and thought, “yeah, that’s the look I need to go for when I’m older”? Or that creators Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis can consider it just another of their impressively accurate predictions about the future?

Then there’s the casinos and hotel. By the early-Eighties, Trump was already a property mogul, with his landmark Trump Tower officially opening in February 1983. There was also the Trump Plaza and Casino in Atlantic City, which launched in May 1984.

Gaudy and full of self-publicity, much like Biff’s Pleasure Paradise (see below), the parallels are obvious. So both Biff and Trump are blonde, loudmouth braggadocios who own tacky hotels and real estate empires.

And like Biff in the movie, Trump’s business was not entirely self-made. While in the film he accrues his wealth by using the Sports Almanac to make millions gambling, Trump inherited his position in the upper echelons of business, taking over a successful real estate company founded by his father.

As to similarities in the way he conducts his personal life? Well, Biff murdered George, tries to kill Marty and has been married multiple times, latterly to Lorraine. Obviously, Donald Trump has never done anything like this (apart from the three marriages), but he has come under scrutiny for his business practices.

The verdict
While you think this may all be just idle fan projection finding connections where there are none, producer/writer Gale seemed to confirm the similarity in an interview with the Daily Beast.

This is what he said when asked whether they considered the Donald when writing the character of Biff in ‘Part II’.

“We thought about it when we made the movie! Are you kidding?” said Gale. “You watch Part II again and there’s a scene where Marty confronts Biff in his office and there’s a huge portrait of Biff on the wall behind Biff, and there’s one moment where Biff kind of stands up and he takes the exactly the same pose of the portrait? Yeah.”

So, there you have it: Biff Tannen IS based somewhat on The Donald. America, remember this when you go to the polls…

Read more:
- What Did BTTF Part II Get Right And Wrong About 2015?
- Zemeckis: BTTF wouldn’t get made now
- The Sad Story Behind Back To The Future Bully Biff
- Great Scott! Marty and Doc finally reunited