𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Dolly Parton fans were left devastated earlier this week following her death at the age of 80. The sad news came after she suffered a brief battle with cancer, her team later announced.

Loved for her music, authenticity and humour, the singer was known for being open in interviews but tended to avoid discussing politics. In a rare comment made in 2016, however, Dolly made a comment about Hillary Clinton becoming president, though the remarks prompted some backlash from fans.

“Hillary might make as good a president as anybody ever has,” she said in an interview with The New York Times. “I think no matter if it’s Hillary or Donald Trump, we’re gonna be plagued with PMS either way – presidential mood swings. 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.”

After she was accused of endorsing Hilary, she later released a statement joking with fans: “I might as well run myself … they could always use more boobs in the race.”

Sharing why she avoided discussing politics, the Jolene hitmaker shared with Fox News: “I’ve got as many Republican fans as Democrats and I don’t want to make any of them mad at me, so I don’t play politics.”

She also turned down the Presidential Medal of Freedom on three occasions involving two different presidents, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Reflecting on interviewing Dolly three times during her career, The Times journalist Hadley Freeman said she only experienced the country singer’s stern side once, when she asked about Trump.

She wrote: “The only time I experienced her steeliness for myself was when she mentioned in 2019 that ‘in every man I see someone in my family’. I, unfairly, asked if she could see her brothers in Trump. ‘I ain’t talking about Trump!’ she replied sharply.”

“Parton understood, even as others forgot, that we don’t need our celebrities to be political, to reveal their biases and preferences and their hot takes on every single news event,” she added.

The US president was among the many figures to pay tribute to Dolly following her death. Trump ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff in honour of the artist and wrote on Truth Social: “This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will. In her honour, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6:00PM.”

In an interview with Glenn Beck a day after her death was announced, Trump also claimed that Dolly “really liked” him.

“I knew her a little bit, she wasn’t a very political person,” he said. “She really liked me, I will tell you,” he went on to claim, stating that she never expressed this publicly because she didn’t want to upset some of her fan base.

“She was of the opinion, the 50 per cent, who needs to lose?” he added. “I don’t think it’s 50, I think it’s probably 20 per cent of the fans, OK, not 50. But she was a great person, just a nice person. I liked her a lot.”

Former US President Joe Biden also paid tribute, stating: “Simply put, Dolly Parton was an American original. She was an inspiration to millions.” He added that the music legend was “a relentless advocate” for women and for equality and praised her charity work providing books to children around the world.

“She lived her values with a flair and vitality for life that was uniquely her own,” Biden added, describing her as “a trailblazer in every sense of the word”.