I would say it shows a great deal of respect for each other but above anything else, Burr respects his reputation and Burr knows that there’s a possibility of backfire and doesn’t want this blamed on him. Aaron Burr was always a very cautious man and never really fully supported one thing publicly knowing that he could’ve gotten backlash for it.
The answer is both. Despite most of Duchamp's work was a sort of spoof (including "N*ude Descending a Staircase"), the consequences of his trajectory represent a critical watershed in the History of Art.
