The paper noted that Ruddy, disenchanted by the war and runaway federal spending under Bush, re-evaluated the Clinton years and offered a kinder view of the administration he once criticized.
Compared with his reporting during Bill Clinton’s presidency, Ruddy eventually took a more subdued view to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. He said she had moderated and no longer generated the same animosity among conservatives. Ruddy told The New York Times he and Scaife had changed their views: “Both of us have had a rethinking. Clinton wasn’t such a bad president. In fact, he was a pretty good president in a lot of ways, and Dick feels that way today.”
This got some attention in conservative circles where Ruddy and Scaife were criticized for their new found liking of the former president. David Horowitz defended Ruddy in response, suggesting the comment referred to Clinton’s domestic policies and arguing that Ruddy had not considered those objectionable even during the Clinton administration itself.
In the fall of 2007, Ruddy published a positive interview with former President Clinton on Newsmax.com, followed by a positive cover story in Newsmax magazine. The New York Times noted with reference to the event that politics had made “strange bedfellows”.
Newsweek reported that Ruddy praised Clinton for his Foundation’s global work, and explained that the interview, as well as a private lunch he and Scaife had had with Clinton (which Ruddy says was orchestrated by Ed Koch), were due to the shared view of himself and Scaife that Clinton was doing important work representing the U.S. globally while America was the target of criticism. He also said that he and Scaife had never suggested Clinton was involved in Foster’s death, nor had they spread allegations about Bill Clinton’s sex scandals, although their work may have encouraged others.
Ruddy and Scaife again met Clinton for lunch at his office in September 2008. “We had a great time with him,” Ruddy said of the meeting. He added, “We consider Bill Clinton a friend and he considers us friends.”
Forbes indicated the relationship between Ruddy and Clinton has continued and described them as “lunch chums.”
A May 2009 New York Times Sunday magazine profile on the former president, “The Mellowing of William Jefferson Clinton,” offered more details of the relationship between Ruddy and Clinton. The Arkansas Times said details about the friendship between Ruddy and Clinton in the New York Times profile was the “most amazing revelation” of their profile of the former president. Ruddy told the Times though he remained a “Reagan conservative,” he had re-evaluated the Clinton presidency and suggested he had earned high marks as president for success in ending welfare, keeping government in check, and supporting free trade. Ruddy also noted that the Clinton Foundation was doing remarkable work globally.