--- title: Democratic Debate; The YouTube Users Who Asked Questions description: A group of YouTube stars questioned the candidates at Sunday's Democratic presidential debate. canonical: https://time.com/4184017/democratic-debate-youtube-questions/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-18T05:56:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:26.898Z article:section: Politics og:title: Meet the YouTube Stars Who Asked Questions at the Democratic Debate og:description: A group of YouTube stars questioned the candidates at Sunday's Democratic presidential debate og:url: https://time.com/4184017/democratic-debate-youtube-questions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9bb7c057dd96641/6988797e428a9e2da3cd0fe6/democratic-debate-sanders-clinton-o-malley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Democratic presidential candidate, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley , left, Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton and Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, stand together before the start of the NBC, YouTube Demo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the YouTube Stars Who Asked Questions at the Democratic Debate twitter:description: A group of YouTube stars questioned the candidates at Sunday's Democratic presidential debate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9bb7c057dd96641/6988797e428a9e2da3cd0fe6/democratic-debate-sanders-clinton-o-malley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the YouTube Stars Who Asked Questions at the Democratic Debate > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 18, 2016 5:56 AM UTC  Democratic presidential candidate, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley , left, Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton and Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, stand together before the start of the NBC, YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 17, 2016. Democratic presidential candidate, former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley , left, Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton and Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, stand together before the start of the NBC, YouTube Democratic presidential debate at the Gaillard Center in Charleston, S.C., on Jan. 17, 2016. Stephen B. Morton—AP by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Jan 18, 2016 5:56 AM UTC The questions at [Sunday’s Democratic presidential debate](http://time.com/4183625/democratic-debate-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders) didn’t just come from TV journalists—a group of YouTube stars also got to put the candidates on the spot. The group—Franchesca Ramsey, Connor Franta, Marques Brownlee and MinuteEarth—each posed questions based on their area of expertise at the debate, which was hosted by NBC and also streamed live on YouTube. Ramsey, host of MTV’s _Decoded,_ makes videos that [tackle intersections of race and pop culture.](https://www.youtube.com/user/chescaleigh) Her question, answered by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, dealt with potential bias from local prosecutors in high-profile deaths involving police. “I believe there’s a huge conflict of interest when local prosecutors investigate cases of police violence within their own communities,” Ramsey said. “How would your presidency ensure that incidents of police violence are investigated and prosecuted fairly?” Sanders responded, “Absolutely. This is a responsibility for the U.S. Justice Department to get involved. Whenever anybody in this country is killed while in police custody, it should automatically trigger a U.S. attorney general’s investigation.” Franta, 23, is a lifestyle vlogger whose videos range from a guide to Instagram to comedy sketches. His [5.2 million followers](https://www.youtube.com/user/ConnorFranta) earned his first book, _A Work in Progress_, 16 weeks on the New York _Times_ bestseller list. Franta questioned former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about her efforts to appeal to younger voters. “Getting my generation’s vote should be a priority for any presidential candidate,” Franta said. “Now I know Senator Sanders is pretty popular among my peers. But what I wanna know is how are all of you planning on engaging us further in this election?” Clinton congratulated Franta for having so many followers and then noted that it’s important to engage both millennials and older voters in going to the polls for the Democrats. “Turning over our White House to the Republicans would be bad for everybody, especially young people,” she said. Brownlee, a gadget reviewer, used his [technology expertise](https://www.youtube.com/user/marquesbrownlee) to ask a question about whether tech companies and the government can find a middle ground over encryption, which sets up a debate between privacy and security. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley responded to the question, calling for protection against unwarranted government interference. “Our federal government should have to get a warrant, whether they want to come through the back door or your front door,” he said. Finally, the [team of scientists](https://www.youtube.com/user/minuteearth) at MinuteEarth gave their take on the uphill battle against climate change, citing grim statistics about human contributions to climate change and the “political gridlock” that prevents progress. Their statement was followed by a question from moderator NBC’s Lester Holt about what it would take to convince Americans to change their behaviors. Sanders replied that it’s impossible to avoid noticing climate change. “I was home in Burlington, Vermont, on Christmas Eve, the temperature was 65 degrees,” he said. “People in Vermont know what’s going on.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4184017/democratic-debate-youtube-questions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4184017/democratic-debate-youtube-questions/"},"headline":"Meet the YouTube Stars Who Asked Questions at the Democratic Debate","datePublished":"2016-01-18T05:56:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:44:26.898Z","description":"YouTube stars questioned the Democratic candidates","url":"https://time.com/4184017/democratic-debate-youtube-questions/","keywords":["Debates","Tech","2016 Election","YouTube"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9bb7c057dd96641/6988797e428a9e2da3cd0fe6/democratic-debate-sanders-clinton-o-malley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9bb7c057dd96641/6988797e428a9e2da3cd0fe6/democratic-debate-sanders-clinton-o-malley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic presidential candidate, former Maryland Gov. 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