The average overweight but not yet obese person sees this as validation of their lifestyle. The obese guy is struggling to be like them, which makes them feel good. A non-fat, or god forbid an actually fit person makes them feel like they're the ones in the wrong. If this guy lost enough weight to get a "dad bod" and said he still felt disgusting you'd see the public opinion shifting pretty quickly. Same if he just graduated to skinnyfat and wanted to actually build up some muscle.