You almost didn’t need to watch the Duggar family interview if you were watching Twitter.
Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar sat down with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly for an interview that aired on Wednesday night, speaking publicly for the first time about allegations that their son Josh molested five young girls when he was a teen.
The stars of TLC’s reality show “19 Kids and Counting” revealed that four of the girls involved were their daughters and classified the incidents as “improper touching,” sometimes over the girls’ clothes and sometimes under it.
“This was not rape or anything like that,” Jim Bob said.
Social media took the family to task in a big way, many using the hashtag #DuggarInterview.
“Extra” host Mario Lopez tweeted, “Molesting a child isn’t a ‘mistake’ it’s a crime. To call it anything else is minimizing & unfair to victims…” while Twitter user “Ash” said, “The #DuggarInterview was literally the most disgusting thing I’ve ever watched. Absolutely no accountability and they downplayed it so hard.”
Former talk show host Montel Williams wrote, “So Jim Bob was cool with being a HYPOCRITE because he tonight he couldn’t get caught because evidence was sealed?” One tweeter expressed her sadness for Jessa Duggar, who, despite being one of the victims, spoke out in support of her brother.
But the family wasn’t without some supporters. Twitter user Chris Di Palma wrote, “Still think the Duggar family is a great family ! People make mistakes.” Another said she felt bad for Michelle Duggar, who broke down and cried over her son’s actions.