John-David Duggar, 25, doesn’t want to be like brother Josh Duggar anymore
Does anyone care about the younger Duggar children? Because I really don’t. Plus, I have the added drama of not really being able to tell the Duggar boys apart. I think I’ve gotten the photo IDs in this post correct – these should be photos of Joseph Duggar (age 20) and John-David Duggar (age 25). Neither is married, from what I kind tell, although there are some rumors about “courting.” Both Joseph and John-David are younger than Josh Duggar, obviously, and they’re finally speaking out about Josh’s illegal activities and about everything that’s come out this year. Apparently, these two Duggars also gave interviews for Jessa and Jill’s spinoff show, Counting On. Seems like everybody gave an interview to this show, huh?
A controversial year has changed the Duggars’ family dynamic. In a moving exclusive clip from the new special Jill & Jessa: Counting On, John-David and Joseph Duggar break their silence about older brother Josh and the havoc his August cheating scandal wreaked on their family.
“After everything started to settle down from the first release of stuff in the news about Josh, we got word of a second thing that we had no clue about,” John-David, 25, says during a tense interview, seeming to address Josh’s revelation of inappropriate conduct involving five underage girls being made public this past May. Adds John-David, “That was a little more of a shock probably than the first stuff coming out.”
When it came to Josh’s extramarital activities, “I don’t think there’s any way any of us would have known that my brother was living such a secret life,” says Joseph, 20, who is close to tears during his interview. “It broke my heart. Whenever somebody you respect the most is willing to get up and proclaim what we believe as Christians, about being true to your wife, you’d never think that that’s the person who’s involved in it.”
Now, the brothers say they’ve all but lost a hero: “I always wanted to be like him. But one of the toughest things I had to tell my older brother was, I don’t want to be like you anymore,” says John-David.
As the second eldest of the Duggar brothers, he says it’s now up to him to set the example. “It’s a big load. It’s a big weight upon me now. I’ve got a whole bunch of younger siblings looking up to me, and I’ve got to be an example to them. Because whatever I am, that’s what they want to be. I know that’s how it was for me and Josh.”
I actually do feel sorry for many of the younger Duggars. Not so much Jessa, but I have a small bit of compassion for Joseph and John-David. They probably did grow up thinking that they wanted to be like Josh. Only to have that dream smashed in spectacular fashion. But what bugs me about these quotes is the same thing that bugged me during the unfolding Duggar scandals: people really believe that Josh’s extramarital affairs were SO MUCH worse than he’s escalating child abuse/molestation of his siblings. That bothers me. Obviously, Josh’s affairs were hypocritical, but I really do think that a lot of Duggar fans felt like they could “forgive” Josh for molesting children as a teenager, but they couldn’t forgive him for cheating on his wife with adult women. And that’s… wrong.
Photos courtesy of the Duggars’ social media.
