I do think that the most charitable interpretation is the one we are to adopt, unless other evidence rules it out of court. I think we should apply that in our reading of and about our brethren, even the ones in Scripture.
But I know sometimes we fall into a mindset where we worry that the attacks from hostile elements are true, and it can awkward to come across such a quote because we feel it as a toehold for them; but if their petty attacks didn't concern us, I suspect we would be less likely to perceive the words in question as being problematic to begin with. Perhaps that is not very clear. The way we perceive words has a certain dependence upon our emotional condition, and if we were cheerful and untroubled I think we would perceive fewer things as being careless or damaging or whatever.
But I know sometimes we fall into a mindset where we worry that the attacks from hostile elements are true, and it can awkward to come across such a quote because we feel it as a toehold for them; but if their petty attacks didn't concern us, I suspect we would be less likely to perceive the words in question as being problematic to begin with. Perhaps that is not very clear. The way we perceive words has a certain dependence upon our emotional condition, and if we were cheerful and untroubled I think we would perceive fewer things as being careless or damaging or whatever.