Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain openly questioned President Joe Biden‘s political strategy Tuesday night, arguing he was too focused on long-term infrastructure projects and not enough on immediate economic needs as he runs for reelection.

“I think the president is out there too much talking about bridges,” Klain said, according to audio exclusively obtained by POLITICO. “He does two or three events a week where he’s cutting a ribbon on a bridge. And here’s a bridge. Like I tell you, if you go into the grocery store, you go to the grocery store and, you know, eggs and milk are expensive, the fact that there’s a fucking bridge is not [inaudible].”

Speaking at an event hosted by the publication “Democracy: A Journal of Ideas,” the longtime Biden adviser went on to say that while the infrastructure being built under the Biden administration was “a positive thing,” the president was thinking too narrowly in focusing so heavily on it.

“He’s not a congressman. He’s not running for Congress,” said Klain. “I think it’s kind of a fool’s errand. I think that [it] also doesn’t get covered that much because, look, it’s a fucking bridge. Like it’s a bridge, and how interesting is the bridge? It’s a little interesting but it’s not a lot interesting.”

In a follow up interview, Klain noted that elsewhere in Tuesday evening’s event, he expressed pride over Biden’s accomplishments. But he also did not back down from the main thrust of his critique, noting that it was incumbent on Biden and his campaign to turn the election into a debate about the future and not a referendum on what they’ve done.

“The president’s most effective economic message is contrast around whose side are you on, and compassion for the [pinch] of family budgets, and his agenda to bring down costs and raise incomes — and that lauding achievements — especially ones with abstract benefits — is less persuasive with voters,” Klain said.

The comments from Klain are a rare instance of a luminary from the president’s close orbit openly questioning current White House strategy. Klain left the administration in February last year, having helped spearhead the passage of much of the domestic agenda. But he also has had a long-standing reputation for being among the more politically aggressive of Biden’s core advisers.

And he has a well known, well publicized belief that a key component to Biden’s political survival is getting prices down. In the lead up to the 2022 midterms, Klain was monomaniacally focused on the cost of gas, searching the average national price on AAA every morning. In recent days, he also cautioned the Biden campaign against taking a victory lap on inflation.

“Although inflation has moderated, prices are still high, the price of gasoline is still high, other prices are still high, and people feel that pinch,” Klain said on MSNBC recently. “And though wages have gone up, and the statistics say wages have gone up faster than prices, people still feel pinched in their pocketbooks. And so, I think the president needs to make more progress on that.”

Reached for comment, the White House said it sees no daylight between what it’s doing and what Klain is suggesting.

“Like Ron says, President Biden is crisscrossing the country building on his State of the Union message, highlighting that he is fighting to grow the middle class and lower costs like prescription drugs while blocking the trickle-down agenda Republican officials have proposed on behalf of rich special interests, including Medicare cuts and tax giveaways to big corporations,” said White House Deputy Press Secretary and Senior Communications Adviser Andrew Bates. “The President repeated that message in his Univision interview yesterday and will not let up.”

Klain’s comments on Tuesday echo some concerns that some other Democrats have about the balance the administration and campaign are trying to strike in crowing about accomplishments and focusing on the future. The former chief of staff said there was an easy template for Biden to follow when it came to finding that proper balance: the State of the Union address he delivered one month ago.

“I thought the economic message of that speech was very strong and should be the economic message overall, which is less about just logging the accomplishments and more about an agenda and choice,” Klain said. “And I think when they frame it that way, it’s very powerful.”

After the State of the Union address, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and top administration officials went on a nationwide tour, touting the accomplishments and talking about the promises the president made in the speech. Biden himself has made appearances in Raleigh, Chandler, Arizona and Las Vegas talking about everything from housing to health care costs.