PENN TWP — Topped with a fedora, clad in a suit and tie, and holding a microphone, Phoenix Legg was in Butler County to cover the big story of the day.

Here for the President Donald Trump rally Saturday at the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport in Penn Township, he was well versed on the issues.

This political newsman from Dallas, Texas, is a veteran of such events, having covered dozens of similar Trump rallies across the country since 2016.

He has his own website with both well thought out articles and video content. He is seasoned, smart and savvy.

He's also 13 — as in years old.

While most kids his age are looking to become a video game legend or a neighborhood sports hero, Phoenix is marching to a different beat.

“My goal is to help unite our country,” he says, matter-of-factly but humbly.

The self-labeled “Kid Reporter,” as it says on his own business cards, thinks such a lofty aspiration can be attained through civil discourse and finding common ground, politically-speaking.

Phoenix's atypical childhood began in 2016 when he watched the primary debates of both major parties. Before long, he was talking politics, then reporting on it.

Odd? Yes. But what make it even more so is that his single father, Matt Legg, has no interest in politics.

“I don't think it was as much the politics as much as it was psychology, sociology, his love for people,” Matt says of his youngest child. “I think the politics was simply an avenue that brought him into doing it.”

Before long, divorced father and son hit the road in an old recreational vehicle, stopping wherever the political winds took them — such as Butler County, of all places.

“I'm here to speak with President Trump supporters about why they support the president,” he says, “and other questions, too.”

With Matt acting as his personal cameraman, Phoenix reports from venues — like the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport — where he conducts interviews. He thinks he did five to 10 of them at Saturday's rally.

His report, like the others over the years now, will be posted on his website www.phoenixrisinginamerica.com. Traffic on the website continues to grow.

Phoenix and Matt are on the road a couple months at a time. Since he is home-schooled, or as he puts it, “road-schooled,” Phoenix is not saddled by regular school attendance.

When the youngster's foray into political reporting began, it was only supposed to be for a month.

“But then it turned into something more,” Matt admits. A year and a half later, he sold his health care company to support his son, “because he was just growing so much from it.”

Since 2016, Phoenix guesses he's covered 30 or 40 Trump events across the nation, of which 10 were rallies this election year.

He's also attended Biden events, but with the campaign's COVID restrictions, he hasn't had that many opportunities.

“I just like to ask people about the issues, what they like,” he says. He is quick to emphasize that he doesn't take sides. Says Phoenix: “I'm neutral,”

This year, he particularly likes to ask supporters of Trump and Biden what issue or issues of the opposing candidate that they can agree on.

“I find that to be rather interesting,” he says. “Most of the time they have no answer. But every once in a while, I can hear something that people can agree with.”

He finds pleasure in that; and hope.

While he concedes there is division in the country, he believes it's not as bad as portrayed in the news. And he's ready to assist in building bridges.

“I want to kind of heal that division,” he says, “and also show that as Americans maybe we aren't as divided as we think. There's division by politics, but I think as people we can be united.”

Matt, who has an older son attending Oklahoma State University, acknowledges that he has known for some time that Phoenix is no ordinary kid.

“Since he was really, really young,” dad says, “he's always had something unique with him.”