not some official interview with the press.

Doesn't have to be. A PR consultant's job is to stop you from spilling more gasoline on the fire where you are. They teach you how to behave in public, not just in one interview. Typing cartoon network "pr consultant" into google brought up a lot of linked-in profiles, so they certainly use them.

Ultimately you're right, we'd have to be psychic to truly understand what he meant in that moment, and we're left to our own modern interpretation. The history of shitting on his employees, abusing a woman, and defending people like Dave Chapelle makes my interpretation very unkind.

Edit: Sorry if I was playing too fast and loose with editing, simply trying to be clearer. Hope we're all good!