Beto O'Rourke told Rachel Maddow he plans to continue his lightening tour campaign but could do a better job reaching a national audience. | Mario Tama/Getty Images 2020 elections O’Rourke: I need to ‘do a better job … of talking to a national audience’

Beto O’Rourke, sagging in presidential primary polls, acknowledged Monday he needed to “do a better job” reaching a national audience, touching off a series of high-profile media appearances he had not fully embraced before in his campaign.

The former Texas congressman told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC that he is “running today the same way we started,” blitzing across the country for a non-stop schedule of rallies and town halls.


“But I recognize I can do a better job also of talking to a national audience,” O'Rourke said. “I hope that I’m continuing to do better over time, but we’ve been extraordinarily fortunate with the campaign that we’ve run so far.”

Though O'Rourke has done interviews with Univision’s Jorge Ramos, CBS’s Gayle King and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, among others, he had expressed a preference for “eyeball to eyeball" campaigning. But with his support appearing to stagnate nationally — resting at 5 percent in the latest Morning Consult poll — the former Texas congressman is now seeking to regain his footing in the Democratic primary.

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O’Rourke is scheduled to appear on ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday morning, following by a CNN town hall next week.

O’Rourke’s Maddow appearance followed a high-dollar fundraiser in New York City on Monday, the first of his campaign. While Joe Biden has granted reporters pooled access to his fundraisers, O’Rourke streamed his remarks at the event live on Facebook.

O’Rourke has been campaigning relentlessly since announcing his candidacy in March, hosting 150 events in 116 cities and answering more than 1,000 questions from voters, according to his campaign.

Speaking to Maddow, O’Rourke said “showing up to those town halls is not just a means of introducing myself. It’s a way to learn about what’s most important to those that I want to serve.”

On issues ranging from climate change to voter access and money in politics, O’Rourke sounded many of the same notes Monday that he has at his rallies and town halls. He sharply rebuked President Donald Trump for "cozying up to strongmen" abroad.

Trump’s foreign policy, O'Rourke said, has been a “complete disaster for the United States and for the world and has made us less, not more, safe.”