Last night, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar confirmed to Megyn Kelly that their son Josh had admitted to molesting four of his sisters and a babysitter when he was a teenager. Members of the Duggar family — including Josh's sisters Jessa and Jill, who had both identified themselves as victims — voiced their love and support of Josh. But the response on Twitter to Jim Bob and Michelle's admission to Kelly in last night's interview has been vocal and a lot less forgiving.
Now Sarah and Bristol Palin (yes, the once vice presidential candidate turned pundit and her daughter) have chimed in with their opinions. According to the Palins, the spotlight currently being shone on the Duggars by the media is indicative of a larger problem between liberals and conservatives.
Today, Bristol Palin published a blog post titled "Let’s Get This Straight, Liberals — What Kinds of Molestation are Acceptable?" It begins, "I can’t believe how crazy the media is going over the Duggar family compared to the big fat yawn they gave Lena Dunham when she wrote in her book that she sexually experimented with her sister." Palin then paraphrases parts of Dunham's book Not That Kind of Girl.
She continues, "Remember the liberal media outrage? Oh that’s right. It didn’t happen. The liberal media darling Dunham was praised for her 'honest and witty' book. The double standards make me sick. Josh Duggar touched a sleeping girls breast — a terrible thing to go [sic]. But now their ENTIRE family is punished and their hit show is canceled?"
On Facebook, Bristol's mother Sarah Palin praised her daughter's ability to call out "radical liberals" who have "total control over public narratives." She also called Lena Dunham a "pedophile" who is "haughtily enjoy[ing] rewards for [her] own perversion."
Now, Sarah Palin did note, "The main victim in any story like this isn't the perpetrator, it's the innocent ones so harmfully affected." Still, the point she's missing in her claim that the "liberal media" is unfairly chastising the Duggar family is that Jim Bob and Michelle have been complicit in covering up Josh's actions for years.
Lena Dunham did release a statement after a site called Truth Revolt accused her of abusing her younger sister. We've reached out to Dunham's rep for a comment on Sarah and Bristol Palin bringing her name into the Duggar conversation, and will report back.