His answer is entirely a religious answer. In that way he is 100% correct and in no way inflammatory. It's not a political question to him. It's a religious question. To me it's a straightforward response to an halachic question. You should look into his history. In many ways he is quite liberal. But I doubt, if you asked him what day it was he'd know it was October 24. He would say it's 16 Cheshvan.