Damon Weaver, kid reporter who interviewed Obama, dead at 23

Damon Weaver, the student reporter who gained national attention in 2009 for interviewing President Barack Obama, has died. He was 23.

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Weaver died May 1 of natural causes, his family said. He had been studying communications at Albany State University in Georgia.

Weaver was 11 when he became the youngest person to conduct an interview with a sitting president, meeting with Obama for 10 minutes Aug. 13, 2009, in the Diplomatic Room, the Palm Beach Post reported. The interview covered education including school lunches, bullying, conflict resolution and how to succeed.

At the end of the interview Weaver asked Obama to be his “homeboy,” telling him that then Vice-President Joe Biden had already agreed.

“Absolutely,” Obama said, smiling and shaking Weaver’s hand.

The interview led to others for Weaver including sitting down with Oprah Winfrey and athlete Dwyane Wade.

“It was a one-in-a-lifetime experience,” sister Candace Hardy said. “That’s the only way to describe it. … It was life-changing for him.”

Hardy said Weaver wanted to be a sports journalist and cover the NFL. She said he liked to meet new people.

“He was just a nice person, genuine, very intelligent,” she said. “Very outspoken, outgoing. He never said no to anybody. He was very helpful.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group