It only makes sense that the leader of the free world would offer national treasure Dolly Parton a Presidential Medal of Freedom. According to her interview with the Today show Monday, however, the singer had to turn down the honor two times when it was offered by President Trump’s administration during his single term. But if you’re assuming Dolly refused the medal as a rejection of Trump as a leader or a human being, well, her reasoning was a little closer to home.
“I couldn’t accept it because my husband [Carl Dean] was ill, and then they asked me again about it, and I wouldn’t travel because of the COVID,” Parton explained. It’s only been a hot minute since President Biden took office, but his White House has already extended the award to Dolly again. However, she doesn’t know if she’s going to accept.
“Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” Parton mused. “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.”
