But he does have an idea: that the Democrats don't care about this problem. Taking the chance to see if the other side does care seems like the reasonable thing to do.
If the other side hadn't explicitly stated their antipathy, corroborated by all external signals, I'd be right there with you. As for him having an idea, it seems like his own statement directly indicates that he's not very informed on this issue. I'll take his word for it.