I think he could respond to it better (once you're a public-enough figure online, a good skill to learn is knowing when to step away from the keyboard instead o

I think he could respond to it better (once you're a public-enough figure online, a good skill to learn is knowing when to step away from the keyboard instead of saying something grumpy you'll probably later regret), but I see where he's coming from. I have no personal familiarity with this specific instance, but your assessment is likely correct. "Putting out the fire with gasoline" is pretty common on the internet. I have seen celebrities on Twitter reply to something they did not like, only to be surprised and grumpy that their attempts to shut it down backfired and just resulted in more of the thing they did not want, plus additional collateral damage of various sorts.