Well, there's the rub - not only do we not know what this presumed "prime organism" was supposed to have looked like, we haven't got a clue how big the solution space is. Nevertheless, despite the fact that I doubt your interlocutor has actually gone into the lab to figure out how many possible genomes of length n result in viable self-replicators, I predict that a firm number will be presented regardless. Or the (currently) implicit assumption that one and only one solution exists will be made explicit. Take your pick.
Judging from his evaluation, I am your he has gone onto the creationists' websites ...