Anna Duggar was probably hoping that Josh Duggar’s parents could save his sinking reputation so that she could move on with her life and focus on her pregnancy, but it looks like the Duggars dug themselves into a an even deeper hole — the media’s response to Jim Bob and Michelle’s interview was mostly negative, and 19 Kids and Counting fans are urging Anna to leave her husband after hearing about how he molested his younger sisters multiple times.
Anna Duggar and Josh have three children, and Anna is currently pregnant with their fourth. Many fans are likely wondering why Josh Duggar let his parents do all the talking for him during their interview with Megyn Kelly, and it’s possible that he plans on using Anna’s pregnancy as a convenient excuse for dodging the interview whenever he finally gathers up enough courage to speak out for himself. E! News reports that Anna Duggar’s due date is early this month, so she could give birth any day now.
The welfare of Anna and the kids wasn’t mentioned at all during Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s Wednesday night interview, but fans were definitely thinking about the future of Josh’s family. He’s currently jobless after resigning from his position as the Executive Director of Family Research Council Action, and Anna Duggar has never worked. The pregnant stay-at-home mom might not have any means of supporting herself and her children, but 19 Kids and Counting fans still think that she needs to dump her husband.
@OKMagazine RUN @Anna_Duggar Run….protect your babys…as a parent there is no way i would stay.Your never trapped unless u choose to be
— Susan (@SueWanless) June 4, 2015
@Anna_Duggar Divorce the pig. He should NEVER be allowed around children! — Angela Levine (@AngelaLevine17) June 4, 2015
Please ensure your husband @joshduggar doesn’t damage that beautiful baby girl @Anna_Duggar . #Felon #Incest #Rape pic.twitter.com/D3yfDfpqAN
— Matt_Montano__c (@mattmontano) June 4, 2015
@Anna_Duggar your husband is a serial pedophile. Protect your children and get out of that marriage! #KellyFile #DuggarScandal — Earl Lipphardt (@EarlLipphardtJr) June 4, 2015
If this is seriously how they “healed” his molestation “problem”, I fear for his children, @anna_duggar should, too. #duggarfamilyvalues
— sira m (@MsSiraMiller) June 4, 2015
@Anna_Duggar I really hope CPS take all your children if you do not leave Josh. You need to protect your children! — Danielle (@xLadyxDeex) June 4, 2015
@Anna_Duggar How r u gonna protect ur kids from their father? If he could do that to his own sisters than why not his own kids!
— Penny Courduff (@PennyDuff0825) June 5, 2015
In a Facebook post that was shared on the Duggar Family Facebook page, Anna Duggar revealed that she was aware that Josh Duggar had molested his own family members whenever she agreed to marry him.
“When my family and I first visited the Duggar Home, Josh shared his past teenage mistakes. I was surprised at his openness and humility and at the same time didn’t know why he was sharing it. For Josh he wanted not just me but my parents to know who he really was — even every difficult past mistakes.”
Unfortunately, Anna Duggar probably wasn’t prepared for what would happen to her life if the Duggars’ dark secret ever came to light. Now she’s being criticized for marrying an admitted child molester and having multiple kids with him, and her husband and her in-laws are no longer seen as harmless, wholesome curiosities — they’ve become villains.
If Josh and Anna thought that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s Fox News interview would help paint Josh in a more positive light, they were sorely mistaken. Salon dubbed the interview a “shocking and horrifying spectacle ,” and the Daily Beast labeled it “an unholy disaster .” The only people who responded positively to it were likely the hardcore Duggar fans who would defend the family no matter what they did.
Because the Duggars’ downward spiral doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon, those following the scandal might wonder why Anna Duggar doesn’t ditch the family. As Patheos writer Libby Anne points out, there’s a good chance that Anna Duggar is staying with Josh simply because doing so seems easier than the alternative — she’s a mother of four who has never been out on her own, and she has no college education or “marketable skills” that could help her land a job.
“When someone like Anna chooses to stay with someone like Josh, it’s not necessarily because they blindly believe that everything is fine. (Although she might well still be that naive.) It’s often because they feel walled in with no place else to go. She is a victim here too, as well as her children.”
It definitely doesn’t help that Anna Duggar’s religion frowns upon divorce, and Anna has also formed close bonds with the other members of the Duggar clan. Jana Duggar has helped her out by babysitting her kids, and one of her husband’s victims, Jill Duggar , has actually assisted Anna during her previous three pregnancies. There are rumors that Josh and Anna have left their home in D.C. to move back to Arkansas , so Jill might also help deliver her molester’s fourth child.
Josh and Anna Duggar have been silent on social media lately, so they might not make an announcement whenever their baby arrives. As the Inquisitr previously reported, they are expecting a baby girl .
Do you think Anna Duggar deserves to be harshly judged for marrying Josh and staying with him?
[Image credit: Josh Duggar]