Fact Check

Dolly Parton 'Trashes' Hillary Clinton?

A misleading article reported that Dolly Parton "trashed" Hillary Clinton by calling her "crazy," when she actually said that both presidential candidates were nuts.

Published Sept. 20, 2016

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Claim:
Dolly Parton publicly criticized Hillary Clinton and endorsed Donald Trump.
What's True

Dolly Parton criticized Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, saying that they were both "crazy."

What's False

Dolly Parton did not endorse Donald Trump, nor did she single out Hillary Clinton in her criticism.

On 12 September 2016, the disreputable clickbait American News web site published a misleading article reporting that renowned country singer Dolly Parton has "trash(ed) Hillary Clinton in amazingly epic fashion":

Dolly Parton has long been one of America’s most legendary singing and songwriting talents. Until recently, she was fairly liberal, and a big supporter of Hillary Clinton.

In a statement not long ago, Parton said she was inspired that a woman might be President for the first time in our nation’s history.

“We’re doing good,” she commented at the time. “We got a woman that could go in the White House, so we’ve certainly come a long way in that respect.”Recently, Parton saw the light and realized that Hillary would be quite possible the worst person to be the champion for woman throughout the nation. She now understands that Hillary is a liar; she’s as corrupt as they come.

Recently, Parton saw the light and realized that Hillary would be quite possible the worst person to be the champion for woman throughout the nation. She now understands that Hillary is a liar; she’s as corrupt as they come.

In a more recent interview, she called Hillary “nuts” and that her campaign has been “just crazy.”

The American News article used portions of a real interview Parton gave to CNN on 26 August 2016, presenting quotes from that interview inaccurately and out of context.

For instance, Parton didn't say that Hillary was "nuts" and that her campaign was "just crazy." What the singer actually said was that she thought both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were "nuts" and that the entire presidential campaign had been "crazy":

Country music legend Dolly Parton might be undecided on whom to back in the presidential race, but there's one thing she's certain of.

"It's the greatest show on television right now," she told CNN's Brooke Baldwin, laughing, in an interview.

The 70-year-old "Jolene" singer, who embarks on a 60-date North American tour to support her new album, "Pure and Simple," also didn't hold back when asked about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Q: "Where do you stand on this election?"

A: "I just don't know. It's just the greatest show on television right now. You can't not watch it, even if it's Fox television or CNN or whatever you're watching. But it's just crazy, right now I'm just not sure. It's the biggest reality show out there. So I don't know where we're going to land, but I think they're both nuts."

Joking that "it's like watching the OJ Simpson trial," Parton said "You just believe whoever's up next. Whoever testified last is who you believe."

The country legend opined that overall, we should focus on more important issues: "Let's talk about what we really need — taking care of us. I think people just want to have a feeling of security. It's just like political terrorism right now, they got us all scared to death about everything."

Sources

Ellefson, Lindsey.   "Dolly Parton Tells CNN’s Baldwin That Trump and Clinton Are ‘Both Nuts’."     Mediate.   26 August 2016.

King, Alexandra.   "Dolly Parton on 2016 candidates: 'I Think they're Both Nuts.'"     CNN.   26 August 2016.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.