James Carville says Democrats can't afford to lie like 'Republicans do' because they would lose credibility

Talking to guest Ryan Lizza, a journalist, he said, "People say to me all the time, 'James, why don't we just do like the Republicans do? Just stand up and lie?' Because our f---ing people wouldn't stand for it!" Carville said. "If I stood up and lied, you would be the first person to say, 'James Carville lost all credibility last night when he said X, Y and Z.'"

Carville, a longtime political talking head, was a top strategist for former President Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. 

"Yeah, I can spin," Carville continued. "I can shade. Everybody does that. They just look you right in the eye and lie!" He added, "And then our people say, 'We ought to lie like them!' No, we shouldn't! 'Cause they would not do that. It would not go over well." 

President Clinton was impeached in 1998 by the House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice connected to his testimony about a relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

"And I think it's fair to say that we're long-time, at some level, admirers of Joe Biden," Carville said on his podcast in January. "What he's done to himself is, no one wants to hear from this guy anymore, OK?" 

Fox News' Lindsay Kornick and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.