Yeah, that's bullshit. Early Reddit is probably best described as "libertarian" - not to be confused with the embarrassing Republican malapropism of the same name. Much of the community was not explicitly political, but they definitely held what would be called "liberal" beliefs by conservatives. /r/atheism used to be a default sub. Political issues of the time such as gay marriage, OWS, and universal health care all enjoyed popular support among the site's community. The demographics of the site skewed young, educated, and technically inclined - /r/programming also used to be a default sub - so the whole site had a sort of "California liberal" vibe.

You can always tell a conservative who found Reddit during the /r/KotakuInAction/ and /r/the_donald era, because their memory of the site doesn't go back any further than those shit-shows.