Yep. He's no fool.
He's playing them all like a violin - he's got his sympathisers, who are blind to his antics and his goaders, who do exactly what he wants by calling him names and being unpleasant.
His aim is to get those goaders to the stage where they can't even be near him without being close to exploding, like Alex, to where they resort to leaving. He said that to Calum the other day.
The man is an utterly poisonous human being who has made a career out of making people's lives miserable. I'm sure his defenders will ramble on about how he's "being bullied" - he couldn't give a shit.