Except he didn't; what you describe is the media misrepresentation of the original memo.
That's the thing about words: if you're not precise, they can be interpreted differently from how you intended them.
That's just like the Pauline Kael apprx-quote about how "no one she knew voted Nixon - how could he possibly win?". IOW, you are already in an echo chamber.
That was my interpretation at least.