--- description: Eight-year-old "Little Miss Flint" wrote a letter to President Obama. The president accepted the invitation and met with her in person title: Watch President Obama Meet the Girl Who Brought Him to Flint image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d71d016f57a93c3/698892100a4a2279fc9c98c5/obama-meets-little-miss-flint.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch President Obama Meet the 8-Year-Old Who Brought Him to Flint  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 5, 2016 7:36 PM CUT  Mari Copeny, 8, hugs US President Barack Obama during an event at Northwestern High School in Flint, Michigan, May 4, 2016. Mari Copeny, 8, hugs US President Barack Obama during an event at Northwestern High School in Flint, Michigan, May 4, 2016.Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 5, 2016 7:36 PM CUT Eight-year-old [Amariyanna Copeny](http://time.com/4311162/girls-change-history-world-influential/ "undefined") knew it was a long-shot when [she wrote to President Barack Obama](http://time.com/4310492/8-year-old-flint-girl-letter-obama/ "undefined") and asked him to visit her town of Flint, Michigan, since the [devastating water crisis](http://time.com/4188328/the-poisoning-of-an-american-city/ "undefined") afflicted the city. But the president accepted the invitation from Copeny (who is more widely known as “[Little Miss Flint](http://time.com/4310492/8-year-old-flint-girl-letter-obama/ "undefined")“) and thanked her for the letter in person. The White House posted footage of their hug on Thursday afternoon. “I would have been happy to see Mari in Washington,” Obama said during [his remarks at a Flint high school](http://time.com/4318909/barack-obama-speech-flint-michigan-transcript/ "undefined") Wednesday. “But when something like this happens, a young girl shouldn’t have to go to Washington to be heard. I thought her President should come to Flint to meet with her.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4320022/barack-obama-mari-copeny-flint-michigan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4320022/barack-obama-mari-copeny-flint-michigan/"},"headline":"Watch President Obama Meet the 8-Year-Old Who Brought Him to Flint","datePublished":"2016-05-05T19:36:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:19:27.738Z","description":"Eight-year-old \"Little Miss Flint\" wrote a letter to President Obama inviting him to the city","url":"https://time.com/4320022/barack-obama-mari-copeny-flint-michigan/","keywords":["Barack Obama","White House","Travel","Flint"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d71d016f57a93c3/698892100a4a2279fc9c98c5/obama-meets-little-miss-flint.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d71d016f57a93c3/698892100a4a2279fc9c98c5/obama-meets-little-miss-flint.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"obama meets little miss flint","caption":"obama meets little miss flint","creditText":"Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4320022/barack-obama-mari-copeny-flint-michigan/","name":"Watch President Obama Meet the 8-Year-Old Who Brought Him to Flint"}}]}] ```