I think the point is lower level languages won't save us, as in 'python is too slow let's try C++, C++ is too slow let's try C, C is too slow let's try...' He also does mention C towards the end of the talk.
It's more like he mistakes C++ for C towards the end of the talk. But indeed, the talk is more about using languages closer to machine than about using C or C++ specifically, so this hardly affects the merit.
