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Bill Maher says Trump is "more self-aware" than he appears

Bill Maher claims he saw a whole new side of President Trump during their dinner together — and it's all part of Trump's "It factor," Lawrence Jones says.

Democratic strategist James Carville said he thinks HBO host Bill Maher was fooled by President Donald Trump’s charm during their recent White House meeting.

The former Bill Clinton adviser and his co-host Al Hunt criticized the "Real Time with Bill Maher" host for having the meeting in a portion of their "Politics War Room" podcast that was released on Saturday and flagged by Mediaite.

"I think the problem that people have with Bill – I have the same one – is you’re kind of leading legitimacy and credence to this," Carville said, saying that Maher is normalizing Trump, who he elsewhere said "s----" on the U.S. Constitution.

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Political commentator James Carville recently slammed HBO host Bill Maher for meeting with President Donald Trump earlier this month.  (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Maher, a staunch, longtime critic of Trump, had dinner with Trump at the White House earlier this month. While finally recapping the meeting during his HBO show last week, the host marveled at how "gracious and measured" the president was behind closed doors.

"I never felt I had to walk on eggshells around him," Maher told his "Real Time" audience. "And honestly, I voted for Clinton and Obama, but I would never feel comfortable talking to them the way I was able to talk with Donald Trump. That's just how it went down. Make of it what you will. Me? I feel it's emblematic of why the Democrats are so unpopular these days."

During a podcast appearance later that week, Maher responded to backlash he got from the left for the meeting. 

"I had the opportunity to go to the White House and talk to the president and not give up my principles. It seems like nobody noticed that," Maher said. "I didn't go MAGA. I had the opportunity to talk to Donald Trump and say things to him that maybe he never hears, literally to speak truth to power. I shouldn't take that opportunity?"

BILL MAHER REVEALS TRUMP WAS ‘GRACIOUS AND MEASURED’ AT WHITE HOUSE MEETING, SAYS HE'S NOT THE MAN SEEN ON TV

President Donald Trump and comedian Bill Maher met at the White House.  (Getty Images)

On their program, Hunt told Carville he thought Maher had been "had," or duped into finding Trump charming.

"I think Bill Maher was had. He went there and he talked about how charming and nice Trump was. This was the same guy that day who was reveling in a guy who was illegally deported to El Salvador and refuses to bring him back, who loves to hurt people, loves to inflict pain." 

"But, you know, Bill is just the latest in a whole series of people who get had by the personal charm, if you will, of some really bad people," Hunt continued.

Carville chimed in, stating that while he considers Maher a "friend," he believes he was duped as well. 

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