The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the highest honors a civilian can receive. To be offered the award must be an incredible feeling, but to be offered it twice? That doesn’t happen very often.
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In a new interview with TODAY, Dolly Parton revealed that former President Donald Trump’s administration tried to award her the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice, but she turned them down.
"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," Dolly said. She heard from President Joe Biden’s administration about the award, but said “now I feel like if I take it, I'll be doing politics, so I'm not sure."
Dolly, as humble as anyone on this earth, offered an additional reason for why she turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “I don’t work for those awards,” she said. “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.”
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It’s not the first time the “Jolene” singer has been in the press about receiving the award. Former President Barack Obama recently admitted it was a “screw-up” not honoring Parton while he was in the Oval Office.
Obama was speaking with Stephen Colbert and said he "assumed that she had already got one. And that was incorrect. I'm surprised. She deserves one."
"Looking back at your eight years, do you realize that's the mistake you made," Colbert asked with a smile. "Actually, that was a screw-up," Obama said. "I'll call Biden.”
WATCH MORE: 5 reasons why Dolly Parton is an American treasure
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