It has nothing to do with "special treatment". If a fork occurred without consensus, only then does it become an altcoin. If it either achieves consensus or the fork doesn't happen, it's still Bitcoin. The fork hasn't happened yet, so it is still Bitcoin. XT sends and receives bitcoin transactions using the Bitcoin blockchain. It is an alternative client, not an alternative coin. Stop spreading misinformation.
It is not misinformation because those are Hearns intention. He stated that in the worst case scenario checkpoints will be implemented to ignore the longest chain. In other words, consensus is not necessary for the fork to happen according to him. I'd rather people be aware of his intentions on time.
That
alternative client needs to die.