--- title: Barack Obama Meets Little Miss Flint: Watch Michigan Video description: Eight-year-old "Little Miss Flint" wrote a letter to President Obama. The president accepted the invitation and met with her in person canonical: https://time.com/4320022/barack-obama-mari-copeny-flint-michigan/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-05T19:36:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:19:27.738Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch President Obama Meet the Girl Who Brought Him to Flint og:description: Eight-year-old "Little Miss Flint" wrote a letter to President Obama og:url: https://time.com/4320022/barack-obama-mari-copeny-flint-michigan/ og:site_name: TIME og: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 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: obama meets little miss flint og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch President Obama Meet the Girl Who Brought Him to Flint twitter:description: Eight-year-old "Little Miss Flint" wrote a letter to President Obama twitter: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 ---  # Watch President Obama Meet the 8-Year-Old Who Brought Him to Flint  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian May 5, 2016 7:36 PM UTC  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](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian May 5, 2016 7:36 PM UTC Eight-year-old [Amariyanna Copeny](http://time.com/4311162/girls-change-history-world-influential/) knew it was a long-shot when [she wrote to President Barack Obama](http://time.com/4310492/8-year-old-flint-girl-letter-obama/) 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/) 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/)“) 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/) Wednesday. “But when something like this happens, a young girl shouldn’t have to go to Washington to be heard. 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