Duggar Statements Proven Wrong By Logic, Science, or Common Human Decency
Look, we understand the morbid fascination of the Duggar family, but you can't deny that they've been caught in a lie or two (or 20) over the past few years. Hell, if you unpack the cover-up with Josh Duggar alone you'll find a literal treasure trove of falsehoods. So we're going to look back at some of their most erroneous claims, whether they were outright fibs or just woefully misinformed. Read on for more!
Have a tip? Send it to us! Email In Touch at contact@intouchweekly.com.
1 of 7
![Jana duggar annoyed](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/jana-duggar-annoyed.png?fit=800%2C442&quality=86&strip=all)
TLC
Michelle and Jim Bob say Jana is a concert pianist.
So this bold assertion cropped up around Jana and twin John David's 25th birthday. The Duggar parents posted an Instagram photo and in their congratulatory caption, Jim Bob and Michelle noted that, "They both have a ministry heart and are great role models for other young people. John just finished up his pilot’s license and is staying busy with construction and police work." And then they went in for the kicker: "Jana is a concert pianist and is involved in many ministries."
What?
Now, look, nobody's sitting here contesting that the Duggars can't play musical instruments. Hell, it's one of the few leisurely activities they are allowed to do. But what "concerts" has Jana played? Did Jana have a soldout show at Carnegie Hall that slipped our memory? Look, we're sure she's one of the top 10 musicians at her local ministry, but "concert pianist" is not a term you throw around lightly. On the Wikipedia page for "pianist," do you know who the first person to be deemed a concert pianist is? F–king Mozart.
So while we're sure Jana has nothing to do with bolstering this exaggeration, we're also pretty confident that she isn't Mozart.
2 of 7
![Duggar family overpopulation](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/duggar-family-overpopulation.png?fit=800%2C690&quality=86&strip=all)
Michelle says overpopulation is a lie.
Oh man, this is already so good.
Back in 2012, Michelle decided to make an insane ramble about how overpopulation doesn't exist. To quote, "The idea of overpopulation is not accurate because, really, the entire population of the world, if they stood shoulder to shoulder, could fit in the city limits of Jacksonville. So if you realize that aspect of it, we realize we're not anywhere near being overpopulated."
Now the Jacksonville thing itself requires math that we're not emotionally willing to do; some brave soul already took care of it and tl;dr deduced that maybe she was wrong about the statistics. But then she spouts of bunch of other nonsense, our favorite part being when she says other countries are asking us to keep populating the world.
Yeah, I remember the time Switzerland gave the US a call and was like, "Hey can you make some more babies? Thx."
3 of 7
![Dillards missionary trip](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dillards-missionary-trip.png?fit=800%2C608&quality=86&strip=all)
Jessa says the Dillards are leaving for a Missionary trip… and posts a fake picture.
This one's a little more benign than some of the others, but it was an "Aha!" moment.
Back in 2015, Jessa posted an Instagram photo of her sister and brother-in-law prospectively leaving to go on a missionary trip. "So excited for @jillmdillard & @derickdillard," she wrote. "They've been praying about and working towards this transition since late last year, and are so excited to finally be heading to the mission field! Please continue to pray for them!"
However fans were quick to point out that this was a throwback picture of another trip…the ALIVE Christian Music Festival in Ohio. Jill was wearing the same shirt, Isreal was wearing the same onesie, and somehow Jill's hair grew two inches. Yeah.
Anyway, you could maybe debate that this isn't a lie so much as it's deliberately misleading. Either way, we don't like it. We don't appreciate it, tho. Like, literally everything about the Dillards' "missionary work" is shady, tho…
4 of 7
![Austin and joy anna forsyth backlash](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/austin-and-joy-anna-forsyth-backlash.png?fit=800%2C786&quality=86&strip=all)
Austin and Joy-Anna claim humans and animals aren't equal.
Basically Austin Forsyth and Joy-Anna went out for a fun night of calf-roping and people got heated in the comment section about that being animal abuse. Their response? "Not animal ‘abuse’, and humans and animals are not equal," was the statement, before launching into a verse."'God is no ape, and we are created in His image. Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them."'
So like…
Humans are animals. Jesus Christ, even Discovery Kids knows that. Also if you're going to get apes involved, we're going to have to go full Darwin on you and point out that like, humans are evolved from apes.
But look, we know deep down that in a war between science and religion, the Duggars will cling to the latter even if it's bleeding out on the battlefield. Besides, roping a baby cow by its neck and roping it's three legs together def doesn't sound like abuse.
5 of 7
![Derick dillard bully](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/derick-dillard-bully.png?fit=800%2C729&quality=86&strip=all)
Derick Dillard claims he wasn't fired from Counting On.
After the network announced a reality show focused on transgender teen Jazz Jennings, I Am Jazz, Derick Dillard decided to give the loyal public his unsolicited opinion. "What an oxymoron… a ‘reality’ show which follows a non-reality. ‘Transgender’ is a myth. Gender is not fluid; it's ordained by God."
That's… an argument in itself, but let's focus on half a second later when TLC announced that they had fired him and weren't going to touch him with a 10-foot pole. "We want to let viewers know that Derick Dillard has not participated in ‘Counting On’ for months and the network has no plans to feature him in the future," TLC's statement said. "We want to reiterate that Derick’s personal statements do not reflect the views of the network. TLC is proud to share the story of Jazz Jennings and her family and will continue to do so."
Right, so Derick is fired. No question there. The reports flooded in.
Finally, Derick retweets a Fox News article and starts contesting this. "Unbelievable what’s considered newsworthy these days, but then again, this is how I first heard that I was 'fired.'" he wrote. "For the record, I was never fired. I just felt it best for my family to cut ties months ago, as we are heading in a different direction." K.
Derick posted this tweet a month after the announcement. TLC posted that they severed ties with him pretty much immediately after those tweets were released. Point blank, being narrow-minded is in itself a huge problem, but slamming a teenager and technically a co-worker at the same time is a surefire way to get yourself canned. Oh well. Maybe he can start another GoFundMe or something.
6 of 7
![Duggars fox news interview](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/duggars-fox-news-interview.png?fit=800%2C448&quality=86&strip=all)
Fox News
So many things Jim Bob and Michelle said about the Josh Duggar scandal.
Back when Josh Duggar's molestation scandal broke in 2015 we uncovered documents that contradicted a lot of what Jim Bob and Michelle said in their initial interview with Megyn Kelly.
First of all, Jim Bob and Megyn Kelly both referred to the reports as the records being illegally released. The Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette interviewed a series of legal authorities who confirmed that there was really nothing illegal about those records being released to the public. According to John Tull, an attorney with expertise in public-record cases, "They had to release the reports. Those records are not closed under FOI. The alleged perpetrator had attained his majority at the time it was released, and once his name and all the victims' names were blacked out, it was subject to FOI." Several sheriffs' offices echoed this sentiment.
Also, Jim Bob and Michelle believed that since they weren't "mandatory reporters" the "law" allowed them to do what was best for their child instead of turning him into the police.
That's not how it works…?
InTouch spoke to law professor Michael Johnson, and he was quick to call bulls–t. "It is possible that investigators looking into this case could have cited the parents Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar with Arkansas Code 5-27-221 ‘Permitting Abuse of a Minor,’" He said."Having once learned of the behavior, they recklessly allowed it to continue. This crime is a class D felony because the abuse consisted of sexual contact with a minor. The maximum penalty for permitting this type of abuse under Arkansas Code 5-4-401 is six years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine."
Again, that's the tip of the iceberg, but there's still one more thing that we find deeply concerning…
7 of 7
![Jessa defends josh](https://www.intouchweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/jessa-defends-josh.png?fit=800%2C404&quality=86&strip=all)
Jessa's response to the Josh scandal.
In the same Megyn Kelly, Jessa said she wasn't really into labeling her brother, who sexually assaulted her when she was underage, as a child molester.
"I'm not going to justify anything that he did or say it was ok, not permissible, but I do want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist, [like] some people are saying," she said. "I'm like, 'That is so overboard and a lie, really.' I mean, people get mad at me for saying that, but I can say this because I was one of the victims."
Sigh.