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Dolly Parton Turned Down Trump’s Medal of Freedom Offer—Twice

The eight-time Grammy Award winner explained why she refused the highest civilian honor from President Trump.

In a new interview with the NBC News’ Hoda Kotb set to air Tuesday morning on the Today show, Dolly Parton revealed that she turned down a Presidential Medal of Freedom offer from Donald Trump not once but twice.

“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,” said Parton, who donated $1 million early in the pandemic to help fund research that led directly to the development of the Moderna vaccine. President Joe Biden has since reached about the award as well, but she added, “Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure.”

Plus, the eight-time Grammy winner said humbly, “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.”