Blue-check Twitter went bananas late last night and this morning over remarks President Trump made at a fundraiser regarding automobile testing in Japan. Specifically, a “bowling ball test” of some sort that American manufacturers can’t pass which then keeps our cars from being exported to Japan.
From the Washington Post:
The bowling ball test? https://t.co/OzSj7cDqty pic.twitter.com/ubrzxv3Dzq
— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) March 15, 2018
Now, there was much mocking, of course:
A 2 PM Sarah Sanders briefing has been added to today's Trump schedule, which means we're about to hear a very enlightening explanation of "the bowling ball test."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 15, 2018
i found the bowling ball test as performed by noted japanese car kingpin david letterman https://t.co/o5a850zvuQ
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) March 15, 2018
Being escorted from the Honda dealership lot after they refused to show me the Bowling Ball Test
— Adam Steinbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) March 15, 2018
And the race was on to figure out what the president was talking about:
Here is my theory about the bowling ball:
Someone told Trump that Japan screens import cars using an unpassable test involving having the hood remain undented after a bowling ball is dropped on it. Whether or not this is based on reality isn’t clear, but it stuck with him.
— Philip Bump (@pbump) March 15, 2018
Washington Post reporter Philip Bump tweeted earlier that maybe Trump saw it in a movie, citing this scene from the film “Rising Sun”:
Spoiler: They don’t. The closest thing I found was this guy throwing crud on a dude’s windshield in “Rising Sun.” https://t.co/aVZE9oaA8Y pic.twitter.com/PLtQJztdon
— Philip Bump (@pbump) March 15, 2018
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But then a reader burst his bubble with what appears to be a Japanese “bowling ball test” of sorts. It doesn’t involve a bowling ball, but it does involve a cannon firing a fake head at a car hood to test for pedestrian safety:
I hate to spoil the fun, but this is almost certainly what he was talking about. Someone probably employed a bowling ball analogy to explain it to him. We don't test for pedestrian safety the same way as Europe or Asia does. https://t.co/mfbsDYVmdS
— hidden genius that no one understands (@erikgrad) March 15, 2018
This certainly looks like a “bowling ball test” to us:
How else would you describe it?
Here’s the full video of the “bowling ball” in action:
And Trump wins. Again.
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