He does. Stephen almost does it out of habit -- he doesn't mean to be cruel, not exactly, he's just been taught that this is how you respond when you don't like what someone has said in polite company.

"Oh, I know, and I'm grateful for it," Stephen replies. Maybe it's the buzz of the alcohol behind his eyes that makes him go on: "Actually, that's something I think we could all stand to remember a little more. Not that I'm a Reagan," he clarifies, breaking into a laugh, because wow, that sounded terrible, "no, just -- how very lucky we are to be in the positions we're in, and how much worse it could be for us."