No matter how many interviews Pitchford has, no matter how much of a pathological/habitual liar he may be, his stance is going to remain the same. "It's not that bad". And really, when compared to Big Rigs and Bubsy 3D, I suppose it isn't.
However, his responses are most definitely PR-related. Randy might be CEO of Gearbox, but talking down about a product they spent clearly WAY too much money on... well, it doesn't look great for the company as a whole. What he doesn't see, however, is how much damage his transparency is causing to the Gearbox name in general.
What needs to happen: Randy needs to be direct and straightforward about Colonial Marines. That's it. Be honest, drop the bullshit, ignore PR/HR/whoever, and just say it "Things didn't work out like we had wanted. We're sorry". Not "I'm", but "We're" - Randy's having a tough time realizing that game development is team-based.
Naturally, the game industry is at a point where that kind of honesty and integrity isn't valued amongst the buyers - Borderlands 3 is going to sell millions whenever it drops, despite any of this situation. Randy will make millions more, and the obtuse responses will continue.