He didn't retract anything until just before he resigned as far as I know.[1] The retraction wasn't right along side his earlier comments.[2][3] 6 years isn't many at his age. And he fixed a link without changing anything else just 1 year before.
Someone far above posted an archive.org link from, was it 2006?, that allegedly showed him already having changed his mind on something by then. AFAICR from the discussion it was either exactly what you're talking about or something very similar.
(Sorry, you're on your own looking for it -- it was on the first page at the time I saw it.)
(Sorry, you're on your own looking for it -- it was on the first page at the time I saw it.)