Robert Habeck, Minister of Economic Affairs and Vice Chancellor of Germany, sat on January 14, 2025, in front of 50,000 viewers on Twitch with streamer HandOfBlood at the tiled table. MeinMMO took a closer look at this.
What was that for a stream? On January 14, 2025, Robert Habeck, the Green Chancellor candidate, was a guest on the stream of Maximilian “HandOfBlood” Knabe on Twitch. At the peak, nearly 50,000 people watched what the two had to discuss at the tiled table. We have already reported on the stream on MeinMMO.
Content-wise, it was about topics that HandOfBlood himself cares about. The streamer, who apparently sees himself in a kind of mediator role in the ongoing conflict on Twitch, spoke with the politician about hate on the internet. It also revolved around animal welfare and e-sports. On GameStar, you will find a content analysis of the conversation.
You can watch a clip of the stream directly here:
10 Years After LeFloid – Finally, Hänno’s Grandpa Can Also Be Proud of Him
What makes the conversation so special? That a chancellor candidate suddenly appears as a guest in a Twitch stream during the election campaign, makes East Frisian jokes, and has chat emotes explained to him is initially unusual.
In the USA, there have already been a few attempts in this direction. Donald Trump visited the controversial streamer Adin Ross on Kick, while Bernie Sanders explained what Vtubers are on Twitch to support the democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
In Germany, the interview of YouTuber LeFloid with then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in the summer of 2015 probably comes closest. The 30-minute video was viewed by nearly 6 million people on YouTube.
One of the viewers was HandOfBlood himself, who commented at the time: “Now my grandpa would even be proud of me. So, in your place and stuff… <3” Now he has not only caught up with the YouTuber but perhaps even surpassed him. On Reddit, one user now says: “In the past, LeFloid had to go to Merkel. Today Habeck comes to Hänno.”
The balance of power seems to have shifted – there is no lightly intimidated content creator sitting before the throne, but the politician is a guest with the “top Twitcher” and has to find his way in this online environment.
LeFloid reflected in 2024 on the interview, saying that he was already aware that he had been “used” as a mouthpiece for a generation that the party otherwise could not reach. For him, this was – apart from an interesting opportunity – also a “huge PR stunt” (via YouTube).
The comments agree with him: It had been a huge topic back then, and they say that it had been talked about for weeks on the playground; for many, it was probably a groundbreaking moment where life realities came together that otherwise had hardly any points of contact: A prominent politician spoke with the funny guy from YouTube.
What is interesting today is that the Habeck interview took place precisely with a HandOfBlood: Although the Wahl-Spandauer is a popular gaming influencer, there are significantly larger and more established streamers in the German-speaking Twitch.
Since “Hänno” announced his transition from YouTube to Twitch at the beginning of 2024, he has proven an astonishing talent to win prominent guests like DJ Ötzi or Evil Jared for his stream. However, as he admits himself, these were entertainers like himself – a politician is a completely different caliber.
The stream now seems to confirm that HandOfBlood occupies a special role in the German Twitch. After all, it is hard to imagine Habeck sitting on the couch with MontanaBlack, taking a vape, or playing Clash of Clans with Trymacs.
The PR effect is likely to be felt by HandOfBlood as well: His stream reached on average twice to three times as many viewers as usual, at the peak it was more than five times. The accompanying video on YouTube is at 20,000 views after 3 hours (as of 12:30).
Whether this is also profitable for Habeck, and whether a young audience could be won, will show at the latest on February 23, 2025, at the federal election.
Curiosity or Election Campaign 2.0?
An opinion can hardly be formed based on the online reactions to the stream, as the curiosity factor seems to dominate predominantly. “Now I’ve seen everything!” is the title of a thread with more than 2,500 upvotes on Reddit.
LoL commentator “Mori” speaks on X of a “fever dream”, Twitch colleague “MrMoregame” even found the stream to be “ghostly sick” (via X) and GameStar colleague Maurice Weber praises: “A doer, this Mr. Knabe.” (via X)
In the comments under all the posts, you can read again and again how “strong” the action was from both sides. The conversation is perceived as pleasant and on an equal footing – far removed from the sterile atmosphere of LeFloid’s interview at that time.
So Habeck seems to have earned himself some sympathy points.
However, those who were critical of the Greens before the stream probably still are after it. In the meantime, such “critics” flooded the chat with hate messages and blue hearts. However, not too many AfD supporters are likely to have been found in HandOfBlood’s community, as he had already clearly positioned himself against them in 2022: LoL team of HandOfBlood takes a stand against the AfD – “Perverse understanding of freedom”
