Four months before the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, Minister-President Sven Schulze (CDU) admitted that his party had fallen short in reaching young voters through social media platforms. Speaking during an interview with ntv’s “Pinar Atalay” on Monday, he stated, “I think that was a deficit for the CDU overall, having partly neglected the topic of social media”. The admission came in the context of the AfD currently leading in polls and achieving particularly high approval rates among younger demographics.
The disparity in online reach is stark: Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD candidate for Saxony-Anhalt, boasts approximately 370,000 followers on Instagram, while Schulze has about 8,500. When questioned on whether the CDU was even successfully reaching young people, Schulze conceded, “It must be clearly admitted that we had deficits there”.
However, Schulze also noted that the CDU has been making efforts to improve its standing. He emphasized that “social media is an extremely important medium for young people, especially those who may not watch as much television or read print newspapers anymore”. Despite the ongoing reach gap, the CDU politician expressed confidence, concluding that “Ultimately, it is about the people of Saxony-Anhalt, who are important to me, and regarding reachability”.
