alike. The contest was held on 7 December and after coming out on top in the first round, Kramp-Karrenbauer narrowly defeated Merz in a run-off, becoming the new leader of the CDU. Leader of the CDU, 2018–2020 In the immediate aftermath of her election, surveys showed an increase in the CDU's vote share; however, it was short-lived. In the first months of her tenure, there were a series of gaffes and according to the press a failure to connect with voters. In the run-up to the 2019 European Parliament election, which was seen as her first major electoral test, the CDU's campaign was embroiled by a row between the party and YouTube personality Rezo. It was caused by a viral YouTube video posted by Rezo in which he called out the parties of the governing Grand Coalition (CDU/CSU and SPD) and urged viewers not to vote for them. Kramp-Karrenbauer reacted, stating that the electoral law should be changed to prevent social media personalities like Rezo from influencing the voters' choice in the midst of a campaign. The statement was harshly criticized as an attack on freedom of expression and damaged the image of Kramp-Karrenbauer among young people. Shortly afterwards, a Bloomberg report stated that Chancellor Merkel thought that her successor was not up to the job, further hindering her popularity. The European Elections resulted in the CDU's worst national showing ever, below 30%. After the underwhelming result, rumors emerged that some CDU politicians planned to shun Kramp-Karrenbauer and put up another Chancellor candidate for the next Bundestag election. Tilman Meyer, a political scientist at University of Bonn, told Focus that the mounting pressure on Kramp-Karrenbauer could lead to the CDU going into the next election with a more conservative candidate such as Friedrich Merz, a former CDU parliamentary leader, in response to the rise of the far-right. Kramp-Karrenbauer announced her resignation as leader of the CDU on 10 February 2020 as a result of the 2020 Thuringian government crisis. The former plan was that she would resign in the summer and her successor would be elected, but this was postponed to December due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister of Defence, 2019–2021 When Ursula von der Leyen was elected President of the European Commission in July 2019, Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeded her as Federal Minister of Defence in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. This was the first time that she held a