He did not say that [1]. I can't decide whether people keep misrepresenting his statements intentionally, or there's some psychological process in play that prevents them from parsing his speech. He is a terrible communicator after all.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI9fbbQ-aTo&t=96s

He speaks backwards and from the inside out of sentences. Changes subject mid sentence. Etc.

I think normal people think that is OK but academics thinks it sounds stupid.

In the beginning I believe he got a boost from journalists feeling smart by nitpicking that to manufacture some "gotcha". He is way to easy to misquote to resist the temptation.