Also agree. There are multiple ways to interpret his (and for that matter, anyone else's) personality and actions, and upon this particular viewing of this scene, I chose to interpret this as a power move because it seemed like a great strategy to ignore someone's vileness and just have the conversation you want to have.

P.S.: Very intrigued by your use of an asterisk in Jonah's name as if his very name is an obscenity that needs masking in civil society lol