We already reported how Joy-Anna and Austin Forsyth got slammed for seeming to mock the COVID-19 pandemic during a recent interview.
Talking to those same folks, Austin let slip a hint that he is very aware of some internal squabbles within the Duggar family..
Joy-Anna Duggar and Austin Forsyth sat down for an interview with The Freedomists, a truly insidious group (more on that later).
As we mentioned, they came under fire for laughing off coronavirus concerns.
We all know that they only did that to serve a political agenda. Hopefully, in private, they are taking precautions.
Towards the end of the interview, however, there was a dramatic shift from the previously lighthearted tone.
"Try to make the best of the situation," Austin offered as advice to any viewers.
He counseled anyone listening to "Learn to get along with your families."
“Maybe there’s some unresolved conflict that’s been going on," Austin not-so-subtly suggested.
"Sit down and talk about it," he recommended.
Austin advised viewers to talk things through with their families "and try to works things out."
"I think during hard times," he opined, "we can all learn from it."
"And," Austin concluded, "we can all better ourselves."
Not all family disputes can be settled, but for those that can, his advice makes sense.
The cult to which the Duggar family belongs is a little too dedicated to communicating with fans for Austin to not be aware of current troubles.
For months, but especially in recent weeks, Derick Dillard has been waging a very public battle against his father-in-law, Jim Bob.
The father of Joy-Anna and Jill allegedly took in all of the money from Counting On, so that none of the children received any money from the show.
In addition to enriching himself in order to keep his adult children dependent upon his good graces, Jim Bob is also controlling in other ways.
Austin may very well have been talking about that when he made this statement during the interview.
It sounds like he may be trying to indirectly encourage Derick to just talk things out with Jim Bob instead of speaking out.
Fans hope that Derick does not take the advice, however.
Derick may not be a fully good person, but countless people would love to read his tell-all book if he ever writes and publishes it.
We mentioned that the Freedomists are an insidious group, and we should explain why it's troubling to see Austin and Joy interviewed by them.
It's made up of conservative Millennials, but the media that they produce is targeted at young and impressionable Gen Z kids.
They use a "soft sell" approach to lure in viewers, while their content becomes increasingly toxic.
In researching this article, I watched one of their articles, and early on, their statements and arguments and examples all seemed reasonable.
For example, in this video, these at-first reasonable-sounding people talk about people valuing seeming virtuous rather than doing virtuous deeds.
Watch enough of it -- and you should not -- and the argument lays the groundwork for opposition to LGBTQ+ rights as "unrealistic," if not in so many words.
They are insidious because they don't come out and say it like that -- they don't want to scare off viewers, but radicalize them.
Joy-Anna and Austin's choice to associate with these folks is disappointing, but sadly no surprise.
