The right wing really capitalized on the left's good faith approach, for a very long time. Now that younger people that grew up on the internet are a much larger component of the left's base, they don't seem to know how to "own us" anymore. We're used to this sea lioning bullshit, and won't put up with it.
He did get owned - but just to put things in perspective, conservatives who saw the video think he owned the kid, saying the ‘kid didn’t know what to say and so just walked away’.
These guys are so deep into their fantasies that they don’t see things the way sensible people do. At all. It’s important to keep in mind when talking to them that they are living in a totally different world.