Sennacherib's goal with Judah was to break their morale in hope they would surrender, thus all the taunting. He tried to play off the people's mixing of the true worship of the Lord with their idolatry when he said, "And if you say to me, 'We are depending on the LORD our God'--isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hezekiah removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem.'" He hoped to drive a wedge between the people and Hezekiah. Also, when he said, "The LORD himself told me to march against this country and destroy it," it's not clear whether he had heard of Isaiah's prophecies or if he was just lying, again, to break their morale.
Again that's why, after being distracted by Tirhakah king of Egypt, he does a second round of taunting. It would be a faster process if he could just get Judah to surrender by breaking their morale.
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