President Donald Trump ordered that flags be flown at half-staff for the next week to honour “one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER,” Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Parton’s death “a true loss” for millions.
“There has never been anyone like her, and never will,” Trump wrote. “In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6:00PM. Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you.”
Throughout her life, Parton declined opportunities to criticise the president. In a 2018 Nightline interview, the singer dodged David Wright’s questions about Trump. “I have a lot of fans out there, and I don’t want to offend anybody,” she said. She told Wright, “I’m not in politics; I’m an entertainer.”
In 2016, she took a similarly down-the-middle approach to politics. “I think no matter if it’s Hillary or Donald Trump, we’re gonna be plagued with PMS either way — presidential mood swings!” she told The New York Times. “But I personally think a woman would do a great job. I think Hillary’s very qualified. So if she gets it, I’ll certainly be behind her.” She also told CNN she thought Trump and Clinton were “both nuts” and called the debates “the greatest show on television.”
In 2021, she told Today that she twice turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honour to recognise her philanthropic endeavours like the Imagination Library, her Dollywood Foundation, and a donation to Covid research, when the Trump administration offered it to her for non-political reasons. When the Biden administration offered it to her, she said she was worried how it would be perceived. “Now I feel like if I take it, I’ll be doing politics, so I’m not sure,” she said.
When former President Obama learned that Parton had not yet received the Medal of Freedom, in an interview with Stephen Colbert, he said he couldn’t believe it. “That’s a mistake,” he said. “I’m shocked. Actually, that was a screwup, I’m surprised. I think I assumed that she’d already got one and that was incorrect. I’m surprised, she deserves one.”
Parton summed up her stance on politics in a 2019 episode of Dolly Parton’s America Podcast: “I don’t do politics,” she said, according to Newsweek. “I have too many fans on both sides of the fence. Of course, I have my opinion, but I learned years ago to keep my mouth shut about things.”
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