For reference, the article I read after seeing this phrase in the wild (in a very large Teams chat!) and having the exact same question whether it was a hostile act or not.

To be fair, if you had an eye for talent and were also incredibly insecure and/or vain, you certainly wouldn't want to select one to be your number two

(Though I personally think it's less he has an eye for talent in a generalizable sense and more that he's just a starfucker)

all his fans are waiting for him to threaten denaturalization and he's just like: oh boy! the mayor! talking to me!