It definitely was stated yes. I don't want to try to search for it now that dubvee.org is down, but fwiw I definitely recall seeing multiple posts by him stating exactly that, how he wanted to replicate "Beehaw" behavior.

Edit: e.g. a link I shared with someone earlier, not that it works anymore but if it helps: https://dubvee.org/post/dubvee.org/1516426 .