I think he knew his demands were outrageous, he wanted to get fired. I mean money is one thing, but having power over X’s policies, I mean there is no way he actually thought he would get that.
I think his whole plan was to get fired before the interview aired, so he can claim he got fired because he asked Elon tough questions.
And that will give him enough bona fides to get another gig at MSNBC or some such.
Did Musk ever employ him in the first place, or just have contract negotiations?
If the latter, and they failed, I would not call that being fired.