Dolly Parton: America so divided ‘because people just seem to love to hate’

Dolly Parton says the reason the country is so fractured is Americans relish in hating one another.

“I think we’ve just become so divided because people just seem to love to hate,” the “9 to 5” singer said in a weekend interview with “Sunday Today’s” Willie Geist.

The legendary 74-year-old songwriter shared a message of unity while promoting, “A Holly Dolly Christmas,” her new holiday album, saying, “This is the Christmas season coming up. But we need to carry that Christmas spirit of peace on Earth, and loving one another.”

“We need to carry that into the new year,” Parton said. She added, amid the coronavirus pandemic, “Lord knows, I hope next year’s better than this one.”

Parton, who throughout her career has famously shied away from political talk — saying in 2017, “I don’t do politics” — told Geist, “We can’t save the world, but we can save the world we’re living in.”

“Maybe I”m dreaming,” Parton exclaimed with a grin. “But I don’t think so.”