He might be referring to the time before Muhammad Ibn Abdulwahab's teachings (Wahabisim) were implemented and became rooted in Najed and Hejaz. The cultures of Najed and Hejaz were more tolerant and liberal before the Saudi conquests. A new Saudi culture was developing which changed major and minor things in the culture of Arabia. Such as the views on women and the dress people wear. Religious fundamentalism wasn't as common as it is today. Sunnis and Shias in Najed and eastern Arabia coexisted pretty well. The Wahabist teaching weren't accepted in a day. Most people were rejecting it even during Ibn Abdulwahab's life. local Islamic scholars in al-Uyaynah charged Ibn-Abdelwahab with espoused violence against those who did not subscribe to his interpretation of Islam. The local Bani Khalid tribe demanded he is either killed or exiled from the region. Saudi Imams and later on kings formed and built the country based on Ibn Abdulwahab's teachings as well as other Salafist scholars such as Sayyid Qutb. For example the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice was created. Which enforced salafist ideals in the public's day to day life. Saudi Arabia supported salafisim in the 20th century during the Arab cold war. Which came on top of ideologies such as Arab nationalism and socialism.

DeLong-Bas, Natana J., Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad , Oxford, 2004.