Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is continuing his vocal defense of the Duggars, stars of TLC’s top-rated reality show “19 Kids and Counting,” in the wake of the molestation scandal that has enveloped the Arkansas family.

“In every family we deal with crises, we deal with issues,” Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on Monday. “I was just stunned and shocked that, number one, the victims were exploited in this by the media for their own purposes — there was no interest in the media to protect those girls.”

In an exclusive interview with Kelly that aired last week, parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar said their son Josh had confessed to them as a teenager that he had fondled four of his younger sisters and a babysitter.

“I do want to speak up in his defense against people who are calling him a child molester or a pedophile or a rapist,” Jessa Seewald, one of those sisters, told Kelly. "He was a boy, a young boy in puberty and a little too curious about girls, and that got him into some trouble, and he made some bad choices. But really the extent of it was mild, inappropriate touching, on fully clothed victims, most of it while girls were sleeping.”

Josh, a former lobbyist for the conservative Christian Family Research Council, underwent counseling. Police investigated the case years later, but Josh was never charged.

“He did not confess in a court of law,” Huckabee said. “The law does not hold him accountable.”

Huckabee applauded the family’s decision to seek counseling and for “[submitting] themselves to the elders of their church.”

“They took many, many steps that many parents don’t take under similar circumstances,” he said.

The Duggars endorsed Huckabee when he launched his campaign last month.



Huckabee is defending the Duggars in the scandal around their son Josh’s actions. (Photo: Danny Johnston/AP)



“Governor Huckabee is a man of faith who is very wise and will help get our nation back on track,” Michelle Duggar said in a statement posted to Huckabee’s website.

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The endorsement was removed from the site last week, though the Huckabee campaign later said its removal was merely a coincidence.



“No one needs to defend Josh’s actions as a teenager,” Huckabee wrote on Facebook on May 22, “but the fact that he confessed his sins to those he harmed, sought help and has gone forward to live a responsible life as an adult is testament to his authenticity and humility.”

He added, “Janet and I love Jim Bob and Michelle and their entire family. They are no more perfect a family than any family, but their Christian witness is not marred in our eyes because following Christ is not a declaration of our perfection, but of HIS perfection.”

But the ties between the Duggars and Huckabees run deeper than their shared Christian values.

According to CNN/Money, the embattled family has hired Chad Gallagher, Huckabee’s longtime adviser and the executive director of Huck PAC, as a PR consultant.