Yes, it is usually snarky, condescending and quick to point out my mistakes.
I was mostly just saying it jokingly, of course everyone thinks. I suppose you could still visualize scenarios and actions, and not just animals but early man also didn't really use language. I would still consider that an inner voice of sorts, even if you're not actively using words. Things are being contemplated in the brain when making a decision.There's a difference between not thinking in words and not thinking at all.
That's like when people have the condition aphantasia where their mind can't picture something their eyes haven't seen (like if someone mentions a pink elephant, they can't visualize an elephant being pink) and they get described as "having no imagination." No, they still have an imagination and can be creative. They just don't think in quite the same way. Hell, the way i found out about aphantasia was from an artist on youtube talking about it. They're a successful artist who draws things for a living. And they have that condition.
People without an inner monologue aren't without thought. It just isn't done in words.
I can see how that could be confusing or sound nonsensical. Maybe think about it like this. Animals can process stuff they see, and solve problems. They don't need words to do that. It might be surreal, with how word focused most people's thoughts are, but words aren't necessary to think. Most living things on the planet don't use words to think. So no inner monologue means the thinking isn't done with words, not that there's no thinking.