Sure, it could be. I wasn’t defending him.
Just please don’t think most of us using “88” or “888” for hinting Nazis, and “666” for praying Satan.

No, 88 is not a bad number. “88” is pronounced like “發發” in Taiwanese, which means ‘making fortune’. And you might also see Taiwanese people using “168” in their usernames, as it has similar meaning.