There were several incidents involving a fire near the federal courthouse in Portland, but not "for hundreds of days at a time" and reports also indicate that in at least some cases the fires were on the pavement and were not attempts to burn down the courthouse. You could argue that the people who set them are nut jobs, but they don't represent the majority of Portland residents, even more than the Proud Boys who regularly invade Portland looking for hippies and antifa people to beat up are the majority.

Fox News reports the same dumpster fire each night (often just reusing video footage each day), I’m not sure how serious they are if they are aiming to burn down the courthouse. Yes, dumpster fires are illegal and those starting them should be punished, but it’s a stretch to say they are trying to burn down the courthouse.

I don't watch Fox News, wouldn't know. But you're under the impression that the illiberal black bloc collectives do not exist in any serious capacity in Portland?

They do exist, but their numbers and impact is overblown for propaganda reasons on the right.

Numbers being overblown? The protests from the left which have dominated the public consciousness have been motivated around the idea that unarmed black people are being killed en masse by the police, a fate literally less likely to happen than a person being struck by lightning. Please explain to me how you determine what exactly constitutes numbers being overblown for propaganda purposes.

The [to-be-]seceding counties are strongly in opposition to the currently governing policies in Oregon, so it's quite expected that they (i.e. Oregon government and the petitioners) perceive each other as "nut jobs".

Or he just knows what this audience would prefer to hear.