I think he means that while Kalinin had this "old and wise man" aspect going about him, he really didn't do much to save people from Stalin's Purges even thought he was aware of it all (I know that friends of his even sent him letters asking him to intervene).
Taken from Wikipedia ( yeah I know,so feel free to debunk it):
"Kalinin kept a low profile during the
Great Purge of 1937. He was well aware of the repression; between 1937 and 1941 hundreds of people went to his
dacha or sent petitions to him about asking help against the arrests.
[7] Although he opposed the executions of personal friends like
Avel Yenukidze, he remained submissive to
Stalin, who under the pretext of protecting him had his apartment always watched by
NKVD officers.
[7]"