The question came up on a huge screen, and was asked of him personally in front of a large audience. He would have been seen as a complete miser if he'd refuse

The question came up on a huge screen, and was asked of him personally in front of a large audience. He would have been seen as a complete miser if he'd refused. Now, if he'd been asked this in private, with no consequences for refusal and if he still let them fly with him, then I'd be impressed with his generosity. As it is, what he did was just a prudent public relations decision.