Yes, it's a good bet that when someone is paraphrasing the simpsons in their choice of sick burns that they are being 100 % serious and not making a joke in response to an already downvoted french snide remark.
Unfortunately we don't all remember enough Simpsons to make the connection. Also very unfortunate is that the statement was indistinguishable from many statements made by HN users who have followed the Palmer Lucky path.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_in_the_American_Revolut...
Now to be fair, France's motivation may have been more to damage their rival than to help us, but either way we got some much needed assistance.