I think he did not want to offend anyone. This word was very popular during the Second World War and still live. It is not so offensive on Russian as "schwab", for example.
Offtopic:
This is interesting :) Do you know that only Americans call themselves as Yankees? Ukrainians and Russians call their as Pindos/Amerikos (from Greek Πίνδος).
"Либонь, достались од пендосів,
Що в Трої нам утерли носів"
"Енеїда" ("Eneyida")
written in 1798
by Ivan Kotlyarevsky
originally, this word meant Greeks from the Pindus mountain range and Pontic Greeks. Southern nations of the Russia Empire used this word to Greek colonists. But now "Пиндос" is a degrading nickname (only) for American. Some people, especially in Russia, believe that this word is a mix of two words: "Пидор" (Faggot) and "Гундосый" (nasal). But it isn't true.