Dolly Parton explains why she refused Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump — twice

Dolly Parton has not received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but it’s not because she hasn’t been asked.

Former President Donald Trump tried to bestow the honor to Parton twice during his presidency, but the famed singer and philanthropist turned him down, she told the “Today” show this week.

“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 said.

In November, former President Barack Obama said it was a “screwup” on his part that he did not award Parton with the Medal of Freedom. The award is the country’s highest civilian honor and is bestowed by the president “to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the security or national interests of America, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

Obama said in a November interview with Stephen Colbert that Parton deserves the honor and he would “call Biden.” Parton said Monday she has heard from President Joe Biden regarding the award.

“Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” she said. “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.”

Parton became famous for her singing, but she has given back in a multitude of ways. In 2018, her Imagination Library program gave its 100 millionth free book to children, NPR reported.

In 2016, Parton organized a telethon for the 2016 Tennessee wildfires, raising more than $9 million, according to Billboard.

She pledged $500,000 to a hospital and cancer patient center in Tennessee in 2007, and also raised the same amount during a benefit concert.

Her charitable efforts were spotlighted when Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine was approved late last year. In April, Parton revealed she donated $1 million to the research of the vaccine.