He doesn’t want to appear to be pushing on anyone’s toes

I can’t remember the context of this odd malaphor but it could be a mash up of “stepping on someone’s toes” (offend someone) and possibly “push the envelope” (to go further beyond the accepted limits).  However, I think “pushover” (a person easily taken advantage of)  or “pushy” (overly forward) is probably what the speaker was thinking of as he might be describing himself as both not offending his audience and taking advantage of them.