Compare that to now, with reports that his son Josh did the same activities that he once said was "worthy of death." The family and its sycophants (Mike Huckabee, et al.,) have provided cover for his dangerous actions and doing a disservice to victims of his sexual abuse by saying "he made a mistake,""playing doctor," or any other excuse trotted out there.
Hemant Mehta at The Friendly Atheist:
When Jim Bob Duggar was running for U.S. Senate in 2002, his campaign website explained his positions on the issues.Allie Jones at Gawker's Defamer:
Turns out he called for the death penalty for those who committed incest.
That’s gotta be awkward now that we know his son Josh Duggar molested five little girls, including four of his sisters, when he was a teenager.
Jim Bob’s platform on his campaign website—preserved via web cache—states that he believes “rape and incest represent heinous crimes and as such should be treated as capital crimes.” Jim Bob offered this belief to explain his position on abortion (only acceptable if both the mother and the baby were going to die anyway, of course).Jim Bob lost the Republican nomination for Senate to Arkansas’ incumbent Senator Tim Hutchinson. His son Josh remained very much alive and went on to molest several underage girls including some of his sisters from 2002-2003.Duggar later lost the primary to Senator Tim Hutchinson (R), and the then-incumbent lost to now-former Senator Mark Pryor (D) in that year's general.