Itzik, what you are saying, in short, is that he was in a moment of grief, and the kefira he said was a ruach shtus. I would love to believe it. He is supposed to be mainstream. It would mean that such kefirah is not mainstream thought.
I have difficulty with this interpretation because:
1. He spoke publicly, not privately. It was a public gathering for divrei hisorerus.
2. Nobody corrected him. They all said “Amen”.
3. He didn’t correct himself, or put out a public retraction.If I cursed publicly and was a public figure, I would run to apologiuze and ask forgiveness.
4. He didn’t say an expletive. He said what sounded like a very well-thought-out sentence, one that matches what anecdotal evidence idicates is a more widely-held belief than people want to admit to.
5. Two Lubavitchers I know of who saw it said he meant what he said, but he meant tzaddik gozeir VeHashem Mekayeim, as if that means running the world (If my kid asks for a lollipop and I give him one, he’s not running the show). So 2 people “in the know” say it wasn’t a mistake or a kefirah equivalent of an expletive.
6. There are many who clearly interpret “bettenen the Rebbe” and “hiskashrus” as saying this very thing. Websites stating “The Rebbe = Hashem” are easily accessible with a simple Google search.
Again, if I was a public rabbi instead of balabos, and in a public speech, in a state of grief said “J*s*s runs the world”, I would make sure to go out of my way to let everyone know that it wasn’t an expression of a belief but a ruach shtus. I would expect whatever organization I was part of put out a clarification and apology. I would expect widespread confusion on the face of the audience for saying something so shocking. I would also expect someone to make a loud protest.
NONE of that happened here. The silence is a bit deafening to me.