Angela Merkel Discusses Gender, Emojis During Studio71-Produced YouTube Stream

Ahead of Germany’s election on Sept. 24, Chancellor Angela Merkel — the only G-7 leader without a Twitter account — participated in a YouTube live stream in order to reach social media-savvy voters. Produced by Studio71, the event featured four of Germany’s biggest YouTube stars: social issues vlogger Mirko ‘MrWissen2go’ Drotschmann, lifestyle creator Ischtar Isik, tech vlogger Alexander ‘AlexiBexi’ Böhm, and journalist Lise ‘ItsColeslaw’ Sophie.

During the stream, Merkel discussed how she wants to improve coding education in classrooms, continue to invest in electric car-charging infrastructure, and, when asked about working alongside “macho” men, she said that she has long maintained that a politician’s physicality should be irrelevant, Bloomberg reports. She added that if she’s re-elected, she’d like to see a cabinet that’s half female.

During the hourlong series, Merkel also discussed her favorite emoji (a basic smiley face — sometimes with a little heart) and how she deals with sleep deprivation (she doesn’t require much sleep). Despite the Chancellor’s efforts to speak millennial, Bloomberg

reports, not all of the creators found her to be forthcoming. “She tends to evade uncomfortable questions,” Drotschmann told the outlet.

You can check out the interview, which was held at YouTube Space Berlin, and which has clocked 1.5 million views in two days, right here.

The live stream won’t be Merkel’s sole ploy to reach a a younger demographic ahead of next month’s vote. Next week, she will speak at Gamescom, Europe’s biggest computer games trade show, whose audience consists largely of cosplaying teens.