It's unfortunate in a way that in this case I think Vermeer was expressing an actual sincere opinion. I take your point about Vermeer in general being a complicated subject.
For the record, I have no interest in advocating for the silencing of trolls. I do have a hard time finding any value in them and I have a harder time understanding how anyone could find them enriching to public discourse when their exact purpose is to gain amusement at the disruption of same.