Donald Trump Toots His Own Horn in Dolly Parton Tribute: 'She Really Liked Me'

President Donald Trump’s tribute to Dolly Parton did not stay focused on Dolly for long.

After the country legend died August 25 at 80 following a battle with cancer, Trump called her death a “true loss for millions of people” and ordered U.S. flags flown at half-staff until September 1. During an August 26 appearance on The Glenn Beck Program, the president seemed focused on claiming Parton as a fan of his own.

“We all knew her so well. I knew her a little bit,” Trump said. “She wasn’t a very political person… she really liked me, I will tell you!”

Beck laughed in response.

Trump acknowledged that Parton generally avoided partisan politics, then seemed to suggest she had kept quiet because she did not want to alienate fans.

“She also wanted to stay very, you know, she was of the opinion, the 50 percent, who needs to lose… I don’t think it’s 50, I think it’s probably 20 percent of the fans,” he said.

Parton spent much of her career refusing to be pulled into partisan fights. During the 2016 race between Trump and Hillary Clinton, she joked on Facebook that if she got political, she “might as well just run myself” because she had “the hair for it.”

More seriously, she said she had not decided whom she was voting for.

That neutral stance continued across administrations. During Trump’s first term, Parton twice declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She said she turned it down once because her husband, Carl Dean, was ill, and again because she did not want to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. She later declined the same honor from Joe Biden’s White House to avoid appearing political.

Parton’s public record did not fit neatly into Trump’s claim of private support.

Parton was a longtime advocate for the LGBTQ community, opposed a Tennessee transgender ban in 2023 by saying she wanted everyone “to be treated good,” and said in 2020 that “of course Black lives matter.”

She also donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University, helping fund research tied to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

On the podcast, Trump admitted being “surprised” the White House had not lowered flags for an entertainer before.

“I liked her a lot, and I thought it was a natural thing to lower the flags,” he said.

“She was unique, I mean, she was amazing,” he added. “To lose her is like you lose a member of the family.”