If there's one thing that unites the past three presidents, it may be a strong desire to ensure Dolly Parton gets the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The legendary singer spoke with Today this week and revealed that former President Donald Trump's administration attempted to give her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, not once but twice. But Parton, who famously helped fund Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine research, had to turn it down both times, she explained.
"I got offered the freedom award from the Trump administration," Parton revealed. "I couldn't accept it because my husband was ill. Then they asked me again about it, and I wouldn't travel because of the COVID."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Former President Barack Obama has admitted he regrets not awarding Parton the Presidential Medal of Freedom while he was in office and even told Stephen Colbert he'd "call Biden" about it. And in fact, Parton told Today she's already heard from President Biden. But it seems the 46th president, too, could come up short in an effort to honor her, as Parton explained she might not actually want the Medal of Freedom at all.
"Now I feel like if I take it, I'll be doing politics," she said. "So I'm not sure. I don't work for those awards. It'd be nice, but I'm not sure that I even deserve it, but that's a nice compliment for people to think that I might deserve it."
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.