> That sentiment of "a real Python programmer" speaks to a mentality of in-group superiority,

I don't agree with you at all. By the context, the term "a real python programmer" clearly meanys a developer who actually has used Python in the past in a remotely significant way, at least slightly above the level of an intro to Python tutorial. Knowing the syntax is not knowing how to use a language.

It isn't elitist or classist to see red flags in a C++ programmer who fails to use smart pointers or doesn't understand the difference between pass by value and pass by reference. If someone passing himself as an experienced C++ programmer fails to allocate memory with new and just throws mallocs around, the reaction would be the same.