I think his goal is to make it clear for ANYONE paying attention that if she denies the motion she is either a blithering idiot or hopelessly biased and her very denial of the motion is the strongest evidence for both.
I applaud his effort!
no, judges deny these motions because they don’t want to make the hard choice. The jury gets this case because the law mandates the judge rule for the defense. With the jury, they may still convict by supporting the judge’s bias.