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.