I can understand confusion from an exchange between a wannabe leader and a not-media / activist person.  Neither side seems to set expectations upfront.  Confusion happens, and sensible people might say “oops” or “I didn’t expect you to be that way.” 

Honey Badger Gessler follows up with an email “replete with F-bombs, volcanic eruptions, and more.” Which, last time I checked, is not the usual suggestion of “how to win friends and influence people,” or “the art of the deal,” or any other source of published and accepted communication advice. 

Perhaps his campaign to become Chair isn’t going quite as well as he’d hoped.