He doesn’t care about the journalist. He is talking to the audience and the ones that are not already repelled by him have just heard 3 minutes of concern about the evil immigrants sent by dictators that are raping children. He got everything he could have asked about the exchange, including making the reporter seem insensitive and uncaring. Remember, he is not talking to you, he has no chance to win you over, it’s about the rest of the audience.
Yeah, but he also is not trying to win the other side over, just the ones that still somehow think that both sides are rational. The polls are tied because these kind of messages go through. This is how he wins over people beyond MAGAs.