I still think it's a bit different when a character is stating it in a fic. Just because the author isn't specifically stating that they may disagree with the viewpoint of her characters (even if the characters seem like they are beloved by all), the author may still disagree with it. From what I remember of the fic (obviously assuming that we're talking about the same fic!) the character wasn't actually beloved by all and had done some pretty screwed up things. Maybe the author was assuming we'd all draw our own conclusions about the character's nature from what she said, rather than specifically having other characters criticize her statement.