Viral Video: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Nods Off During A Virtual Meet

In a video going viral, the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel is seen  almost dozing off during a virtual citizen dialogue. In the one-minute-long clip, Merkel is seen struggling to keep her eyes open as the meeting proceeds. The video was posted on Twitter in the early morning of July 15, Thursday. It has above 95k views at the moment and comments are coming in now and then.

Angela Merkel nods off during a meeting, Twitter reacts

On Wednesday, July 14, German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended a virtual citizen meet to discuss the issues taking place in the world amidst the global pandemic. However, she seemed to be tired and almost nodded off during the meeting. But immediately became attentive when it was her turn to speak. A tweet from Reuters read, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to nod off during a virtual citizen dialogue."

German chancellor Angela Merkel seems to nod off during a virtual citizen dialogue pic.twitter.com/9b9r0X1Xp5

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 14, 2021

Twitter users came up with a variety of reactions on seeing the video.

One of them said that she was overworked and needed a nap.

Over worked. Let that lady take a nap! 🙏🏽

— Shane (@Shane61680232) July 14, 2021

Another user named Christian Gross replied, "Personally, after so many years and so many crisis, give her her moment. I am laughing, but I actually understand her."

Personally, after so many years and so many crisis, give her her moment. I am laughing, but I actually understand her.

— Christian Gross 💬🔜🔄 (@christianhgross) July 14, 2021

A user called Asma commented that Merkel looked tired.

She looks so tired

— Asma 🕊 (@ASMAXMOHAMAD) July 14, 2021

A Clinical Assistant Professor of Kelly School of Business, Bloomington Jenni Dinger said, "This only makes her more relatable tbh."

This only makes her more relatable tbh. https://t.co/mOICS0l6fs

— Jenni Dinger (@jendinger) July 14, 2021

What was the citizen dialogue all about

Sharing a snippet from the meeting on her Instagram handle, Merkel said that the topic of the meeting was togetherness of the generations. Her caption read, "Citizens' dialogue on cooperation between generations. The pandemic is a tough time, especially for younger and older people: Chancellor Merkel was therefore particularly interested in today's conversation with citizens under 25 and over 65 years of age. The topic of the digital citizen dialogue was the togetherness of the generations."

On Tuesday, July 13, Merkel said that Germany does not plan to follow France and other countries in terms of introducing compulsory COVID-19 vaccinations for parts of the population. "We are at the beginning of a phase in which we are still promoting (vaccination) where we have more vaccines than we have people who want to be vaccinated," she said after visiting the Robert Koch Institute public health institute in Berlin.