I'm not defending Phil, and I think it's great whenever he gets that kind of response. However, reading this chain, I finally understood why some people see Phil as a victim.
He really can't catch a break. Every interaction of his with anyone, even apparently inoffensive ones like this, are met with aggressiveness.
To an ignorant bystander, Phil really does look like a victim. "Wow, the guy is just being nice to Max and this troll comes here and offends him". If you're not a pig connoisseur like most of us and you were to read that interaction, I'd say it's likely that you'd believe that.
Sure, we know that Phil is just chasing clout while being envious of a guy much more liked than him. But to someone who doesn't know that, he really seems like a victim. Add to that the fact that Phil reinforces the victim narrative daily saying that he's harassed by trolls all the time, and probably more than one of his supporters were people that saw that kind of interaction and believed that Phil was a victim.
Just an observation. I still find it hilarious when he gets shit on while pretending to be a nice guy.