From exercising unthinkable management over his youngsters to his malodorous forays into politics, nobody would accuse Jim Bob Duggar of being a “good particular person.”

Nevertheless, the newest controversy concerning the cult-adhering patriarch and all-around dirtbag is a little bit totally different.

Jim Bob donned a little bit of a dressing up for a household video that his son lately shared.

Is it offensive? Numerous commenters are saying so. And so they could have a degree.

To place issues so as, Jed Duggar shared a clip from the Duggar household’s numerous outfits. The footage dates again to December 2022.

This was no random video — it needed to do with Jed and his spouse’s being pregnant announcement. They’d shared that they had been anticipating Child #2. So that they captured individuals’s reactions.

Michelle and a number of other of Jed’s innumerable siblings had been among the many first to know.

Then, Jed went into the kitchen, asking “The place’s the farmer?” and answering with “There he’s!”

Jim Bob walked in, sporting a straw hat. The hat is, apparently, an “Amish” hat that Katey’s personal mother and father obtained in Pennsylvania a dozen years in the past.

“Jim Bob cosplaying as a farmer in that shirt and tie is an insult to precise farmers,” griped one commenter.

“He’s so disrespectful,” one other chimed in.

And a 3rd merely declared: “He’s vile.” Nicely, that’s a straightforward characterization to make of this ignominious patriarch.

It’s simple to check out this and ask: “What’s the large deal? It’s not like he’s sporting a racist costume.”

Equally, one may observe that persons are saying a lot of this stuff about Jim Bob just because they despise him. (And so they’re proper to!)

Each of these statements are true. However that doesn’t imply that Jim Bob’s costume isn’t half of a bigger, insidious sample.

Merely put, what we’re seeing is Jim Bob utilizing an Amish straw hat to cosplay as a farmer.

(There’s a lot to be mentioned concerning the cult-to-cult solidarity on show, however let’s go away discussing the grim realities of Amish life to survivors who escaped the Amish world. Suffice it to say that the values that perpetuate rape tradition are closely current in each communities)

This isn’t unusual for Jim Bob in two methods: he’s pretending to be one thing that he’s not, and he’s particularly cultivating a rural, “everyman” picture that doesn’t match him.

Merely put, Jim Bob has taken nice pains to push his excessive beliefs. Not by presenting them as they’re, however by sanitizing them for actuality TV.

He’s a part of an abusive cult, however your common particular person would possibly suppose that he simply has plenty of youngsters with dangerous garments and worse hair. Nicely, earlier than Josh’s scandals shone a light-weight on the ugly fact.

There’s extra to it than propaganda. Jim Bob additionally allegedly took the entire cash from TLC for the present, telling his grownup youngsters that showing on the present was an act of non secular service. In different phrases, he obtained cash … and informed them that their roles had been professional bono.

Lastly, Jim Bob is just not some easy farmer, residing off of the land. He has amassed tens of millions of {dollars}. He’s a actuality star and a businessman. And he has been a part of the Arkansas state authorities, to the eternal remorse of many voters.

Positive, it was only a costume. He was not actually impersonating a farmer. However this treads too near consolation to the form of “salt of the earth, sincere working man” vibe that Jim Bob desperately desires to exude.

Merely put: should you’re a despicable con man, individuals aren’t going to love you even joking about being one thing that you just’re not.