In 2019, Gebhardt joined 14 members of his parliamentary group who, in an open letter, called for the party to rally around Angela Merkel and party chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer amid criticism voiced by conservatives Friedrich Merz and Roland Koch. Ahead of the Christian Democrats’ leadership election, he publicly endorsed in 2020 Armin Laschet to succeed Kramp-Karrenbauer as the party’s chair.