Phone passwords are for protecting things from your family.
That's a bit of a sad, unusual sentiment
Most people aren't; it isn't a feature to protect people from governments (I wish we had more features that did). Encryption is a good thing in a general sense but for most users they are more likely to lock themselves out of their own data than protect themselves from anything outside their close friends and family.
I think Apple and the FBI disagree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93Apple_encryption_d...
I think what you actually mean is anyone who has physical access to your phone. If you lose your phone or it is taken by authorities, then you are at risk of having strangers access your data.
If this guy was relying on any password to protect his phone from physical access then he is in for a nasty shock - whatever his password was, his adversaries would know it after this video. That fact that it was 111111 doesn't actually change anything.
He's in the US government. If he is up to something and he has enemies; it will get leaked. If he doesn't have enemies the lack of security isn't so terrible. His work is supposed to all be in the public eye anyway.
[0] https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2018/09/06/ungagged-google-...
Generally a random people do not have access to your Gmail account.
The fact that the password is so simple makes it much easier to discern the from the video.
Just because his work is in the public eye for the government does not mean everything he does on the phone is supposed to be open to the public.