Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez Thomas Edward PerezClinton’s top five vice presidential picks Government social programs: Triumph of hope over evidence Labor’s 'wasteful spending and mismanagement” at Workers’ Comp MORE called former President Obama "the real president of the United States” this week.

Perez’s remark came as he introduced Obama during a Democratic fundraiser in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Thursday, according to Politico.

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The DNC chairman’s remark came ahead of Obama's comments criticizing his own stardom.

“I’ll be honest with you, if I have a regret during my presidency, it is that people were so focused on me and the battles we were having, particularly after we lost the House, that folks stopped paying attention up and down the ballot,” Obama said.

"You are right to be concerned," he also noted.

Obama’s critics have argued that Obama, as president, didn’t pay enough attention to the Democratic Party and help pave the way for a successor that could have beaten President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE during the election.

Now the former president is pointing to the Republican approach as something Democrats should adopt in campaigning.

“They don’t worry about inspiration,” Obama said, also warning that Democrats shouldn't wait for politicians so “inspiring and poetic” that they make them "feel a tingle in your spine."

“They worry about winning the seat and they are very systematic about work not just at the presidential level but at the congressional and state legislative levels," he continued of the GOP.