You are right it does seem more political then financial. Advising people to support charities would be financial advice, wouldn't it? I think its pretty good advice something like "Attempt to give 1% of your income to a good cause for when things go wrong"

Cynically, you can consider it hedging one's bets (no pun intended.)

he clearly qualifies it for "when things go wrong", so the suggestion is more like some kind of insurance in case that happens

They have insurance for that. Why isn't that suggested then?

No, someone thought they'd be cute and throw a political jab in there.

That is a form of social insurance.

Social insurance is a misnomer in this context. I was referring to short- and long-term disability insurance, which will cover you for many disaster scenarios.