A thick rope does not fit through a needle any more than a camel. If I'd said it was a mistranslation of "silk thread" or something, you might have a point, but nobody is trying to defend the rich here.

No, the lie was that the eye of the needle was the name of a gate that was only a little squeeze for a camel. That was around a thousand years later too. The rope was because the Greek word for camel back then was closer to the word for rope, but due to the euphemism being used in other Jewish texts, we knew they ment camel. A big rope also doesn't fit, but it's thematic. A camel isn't, but it's ridiculous, and that's the point. The rope isn't really thought to be intentional, but if someone claims it's a gate, it is, and I think we know the name of the italian merchant who made it up.