Dolly Parton declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden
It was already known that Dolly Parton twice declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump. It has now been revealed that she also turned down the same invitation from the incumbent Joe Biden.
The Today Show’s Jacob Soboroff recently interviewed Parton to discuss her upcoming rock album, Rockstar. Although the musician didn’t discuss her decision to reject the Medal of Freedom on camera, Soboroff told his colleagues that it was because of her desire not to be aligned with any particular party. “I just don’t want even the appearance of being partisan in any way,” he claimed Parton told him.
However, Parton did discuss her thoughts on contemporary politics after the interviewer read her a politically-charged lyric from the new single, ‘World on Fire‘: “Greedy politicians present and past / They wouldn’t know the truth if it bit ’em in the ass”. Soboroff then asked who the song was about.
“All of ’em! Any of ’em!” Parton replied. “I don’t think any of ’em are trying hard enough. I’m sure they’re all trying, but I just really think that, often, they worry more about their party than they do about the people. If we just do what we felt was the right thing, rather than who’s gonna lose, who’s gonna win this, who’s gonna look better if they do this, rather than working from the heart.”
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