Damon Weaver, Kid Reporter Who Interviewed Barack Obama in 2009 is dead
Damon Weaver, who attained national fame after interviewing President Barack Obama at the White House in 2009, has died.
Candace Hardy, Weaver’s sister, told the Palm Beach Post her brother died of natural causes on May 1. He was 23. Further details about his passing have not been released.
Weaver, a communications major at Albany State University, interviewed the 44th President when he was just 11 years old during a conversation that largely focused on education, including what could be done to improve school lunches.
Weaver revealed that he got “bullied a lot” in school in the interview and asked Mr. Obama how he’d handle it.
“I think that when you’re president, you’re responsible for a lot of things,” Obama responded.
“A lot of people are having a tough time and they’re hurting out there. And the main thing I just try to do is stay focused on trying to do a good job, and try to be understanding that sometimes people are going to be mad about things.”
In addition to Obama, Weaver also interviewed then-Vice President Joe Biden and now-retired NBA star Dwayne Wade.
Hardy said her brother was “just a nice person, genuine, very intelligent,” as well as “very outspoken, outgoing.”
“He never said ‘no’ to anybody,” she added, according to Palm Beach Post.
She also said the interview with Obama was “a one-in-a-lifetime experience … it was life-changing for him.”
Our thoughts are with Damon Weaver’s family and friends at their time of loss.