Country music legend Dolly Parton revealed on Monday that she turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice during the presidency of Donald Trump.
Parton, 75, told the Today Show that Trump offered her the nation’s highest civilian honor twice, but she turned it down both times.
She said:
“I couldn’t accept it because my husband was ill and then they asked me again about it and I wouldn’t travel because of the COVID.”
Parton went on to say that while she has already heard from Joe Biden’s administration about them potential giving her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, she is not sure if she can accept it now.
She went on to say:
“Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure. But I don’t work for those awards. It’d be nice but I’m not sure that I even deserve it. But it’s a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it.”
“Today” host Hoda Kotb disagreed, saying, “I think everyone thinks you might deserve it.”
Related: Dolly Parton’s Baby Sister Savagely Attacks Politicians And Televangelists For COVID-19 Hypocrisy
Parton has long tried to stay politically neutral, given the fact that she has millions of fans across all sides of the political spectrum.
However, she has slipped up at times and indicated that she may have more liberal political views than her country music fans would like.
In 2016, Parton appeared to endorse Hillary Clinton during Clinton’s failed presidential run against Trump.
“Hillary might make as good a president as anybody ever has,” Parton told The New York Times. “I personally think a woman would do a great job. I think Hillary’s very qualified. So if she gets it, I’ll certainly be behind her.”
Then last summer, Parton appeared to voice her support for the Black Lives Matter movement, which make no mistake is political in nature.
“I understand people having to make themselves known and felt and seen,” Parton told Billboard. “And of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”
It’s particularly unfortunate that Parton refused to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump because she really does deserve the award.
Last year, she stepped up and donated $1 million to research for a coronavirus vaccine at Vanderbilt University. And, that money ended up being used to help make the Moderna vaccine.
“I’m just happy that anything I do can help somebody else, and when I donated the money to the COVID fund, I just wanted it to do good,” Parton said after it was revealed she’d help make the vaccine. “Evidently, it is.”
Full Story: Fans Say Dolly Parton ‘Saved The World’ By Funding COVID Vaccine
If Parton does accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Biden, it certainly will make it look like she’s letting her political leanings be known, given the fact that she refused the honor twice from Trump.
It’s a shame that she’s let an award that is supposed to be apolitical become politicized in such a way, and it may just mean she never ends up getting the medal after all.
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