It's a lengthy article and that's your takeaway? Seems rather tangential, doesn't it? I wouldn't have even noticed the remark if you hadn't pointed it out.
In communications that's typically referred to as an aside. It would be a bit of information the author wants the reader to be aware of (for any number of reasons including context of either the subject or the author's perspective), but doesn't want to make the focus of the messaging. It's a common device in writing.
I implied it was tangential (and consequentially implied: counterproductive) to inflate the relevance of an aside.
I think that's the GP's point. It adds nothing relevant to the article but the author still mentions it for reasons which the GP is speculating about.