YouTuber’s viral video puts Merkel’s party on defensive

BERLIN  — German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats are hitting back at a YouTube star’s viral video attacking the party’s stance on climate change and social inequality.

The YouTuber, who goes by the online moniker Rezo, posted an expletive-laden rant replete with footnotes on Saturday and it’s since racked up more than 3.2 million views.

The video , which also takes aim at the center-left Social Democrats and the far-right Alternative for Germany, comes as parties campaign for European Parliament elections Sunday.

In an interview published Wednesday by Germany’s RND media group the general-secretary of Merkel’s party, Paul Ziemiak, accused Rezo of “populism, insults and inaccurate simplification.”