Josh Duggar’s Supporters Have Said Some Awful Things — But Not These Things

If you’re sharing memes that purport to be quotes from Josh Duggar’s supporters, you may want to look a little closer. While supporters have said some things in the wake of this horrific event that are misogynist, anti-gay, dismissive, disgusting, and hurtful, some satirical Facebook pages are also promoting some quotes that are exaggerated — even if some may seem in character.

For example, here’s a fake quote attributed to presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee.

Here’s a bit of what Huckabee actually said in support of Josh Duggar. His full statement is here.

“Good people make mistakes and do regrettable and even disgusting things. The reason that the law protects disclosure of many actions on the part of a minor is that the society has traditionally understood something that today’s blood-thirsty media does not understand—that being a minor means that one’s judgement is not mature. No one needs to defend Josh’s actions as a teenager, but the fact that he confessed his sins to those he harmed, sought help, and has gone forward to live a responsible and circumspect life as an adult is testament to his family’s authenticity and humility.”

Here’s a quote that purports to be Ted Cruz speaking on the Duggar crisis. This one has spread far and wide, even making it to reddit.

There’s no sign that Ted Cruz actually said anything publicly about Josh Duggar.

There are also memes with fake quotes from Michele Bachman, Sarah Palin, the Duggar parents (who definitely did not say “if you follow our advice on family values, you too can be the proud parents of a sexual predator”), and Josh. There are also memes claiming that Josh is getting a new show called 19 Victims And Counting co-starring the cast of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.

(Josh and his parents’ real statements are here — they’re dismissive of the victims, focusing on Josh, Michelle, and Jim Bob’s struggle with the situation, but by no means does Josh thank his parents for providing him lots of kids to ‘play with,’ nor do they brag about raising a sexual predator.)

All the memes with fake quotes seem to come from a single source: political humor page Stop The World, The Teabaggers Want Off. Unfortunately, these satirical memes are mixed equally with more accurate commentary.

Of course, it’s little surprise to see Josh in photos with a number of conservative politicians — his job with the Family Research Council took him to RNCs, and a long list of other political events, all centered around conservative values.

As the many memes went viral this weekend, the myth debunking experts at Snopes warned against taking the memes too seriously.

Josh Duggar has some vocal supporters. Many of them are expressing their support through rape apologism, victim-blaming, anti-gay rhetoric, misogyny, an awful lot of equating all misdeeds (or “sins”) as equal, and a lot of “boys will be boys” rhetoric. However, quotes seen in memes always deserve a double-check, and many (most?) of the Josh Duggar memes originating from this particular Facebook page (which is usually mentioned in the image) are simple satire.

[Images via Stop The Tea Party]