That is some serious speculation! There is no way you could possibly know if he has that power just from what she wrote.
> A few minutes later he sent me an email saying he'd spoken to his team and they were looking for someone with a lot more experience
It was a team decision, and while the quote is not final, points more to the fact that he _isn't_ able to just unanimously reverse the decision. At that point, the entire team would have to be colluding.