- Country music legend told The Today Show that Trump offered her the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice.
- Both times she refused, citing family illness and COVID.
- The Biden government also approached her about the award, but she said she did not want to be seen as “doing politics”.
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Dolly Parton revealed to The Today Show that she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Donald Trump on two different occasions, but had to ask permission both times.
“I couldn’t accept it because my husband was sick and they asked me about it again and I didn’t want to travel because of COVID,” she told host Hoda Kotb.
Parton is very dear to her music career and the many charitable projects she has undertaken in recent years. In November, she donated $ 1 million to Vanderbilt University to support research on the coronavirus vaccine. She had previously given $ 1 million to Vanderbilt to help finance the Monroe Carell Jr. Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.
Perhaps her most well-known charity project is the Imagination Library, a charity she founded in 1990 that provides a free book per month for children, from birth to adulthood. In the early months of the pandemic, she used the Imagination Library platform to read bedtime stories for children who were out of school.
Trump is not the only president who hopes to offer Parton a Medal of Freedom. The winner of eight Grammys told Today that the new administration came to her, but that she was concerned about how to receive the Biden award.
“Now I feel that if I accept it, I will be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” she said.
In a 2020 interview with Stephen Colbert with former President Barack Obama, Obama said it was a “mistake” that his office failed to offer Parton the honor.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom was created in 1945 and is the country’s largest civil tribute. It is awarded for “an especially worthwhile contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world or cultural peace or other significant public or private undertakings”, according to the National Archives.
Trump distributed 24 presidential medals of freedom during his tenure, although the late Elvis Presley was the only other musician to receive one. Rush Limbaugh, Tiger Woods and Rep. Jim Jordan were among those honored by the former president.
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick also received the award, but declined after the January 6 uprising on Capitol Hill.