Donald Trump is a man who seems to have just now realized that he's running for president, Newt Gingrich declared Friday night.

"[Trump] is a guy who's beginning to realize that seeking to lead the most complicated country in the world, seeking to lead 325 million people, is a real burden," the former House speaker, who is major fan of the GOP nominee, said in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, whose fealty to Trump is without question.

Gingrich also said it has been "the best week" of the Republican candidate's campaign since it first launched in June 2015.

His remarks come not long after Trump said at a campaign rally Thursday evening in North Carolina that he regrets some of the more controversial things that he has said on the campaign trail.

With these words, Gingrich argued, Trump revealed that he now understands the full weight and seriousness of the office for which he is running.

"I think what you've seen this week is, literally, I don't know if he'll like the term or not, you've seen a more mature, and in a way a more humble Donald Trump," he said.

Gingrich continued, and explained in an analysis of the supposed pivot that Trump is likely battling two competing desires.

"It was almost like a contest between his stubbornness and his IQ," he said. "His IQ really knew that he had to move to a new level, that he had to become a real presidential alternative."

Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, has been less impressed with his supposedly mature, humble pivot.

"Donald Trump literally started his campaign by insulting people. He has continued to do so through each of the 428 days from then until now, without shame or regret. We learned tonight that his speechwriter and teleprompter knows he has much for which he should apologize," Hillary For America Deputy Communications Director Christina Reynolds said in a statement.

"But that apology tonight is simply a well-written phrase until he tells us which of his many offensive, bullying and divisive comments he regrets — and changes his tune altogether," the statement added.