Josh Duggar, the eldest of Michelle and Jim Bob's 19 children, is following in the footsteps of his politically conscious father, who once served in the Arkansas House of Representatives but failed to win the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
Th 25-year-old reality star, who now has a wife and three children of his own, will serve as the executive director of the Family Research Council's conservative lobbying PAC, according to an announcement made on the radio show of the organization's president, Tony Perkins.
“It will be a culture shock coming from northwest Arkansas, but he’s a sharp kid,” Perkins told the Washington Post. “He’s going to fit in well, I think.”
According to Perkins, the FRC chose Duggar in the hopes of capitalizing on his ability to appeal to young evangelicals and homeschoolers.
"I'm very excited about joining FRC Action and working to promote the values that have always been close to my heart and my family," Duggar said in a statement. "In this capacity, I will be engaging the grassroots and taking the message of faith, family and freedom all across America."
Josh addressed his new job in a tweet on Monday.
"Excited to announce I'll be joining @FRCAction as Executive Director in Washington, DC! So grateful for this opportunity to serve!" he said.
Both the Duggar family and the FRC are conservative and anti-abortion. GLAAD, a gay rights organization, criticized the hiring announcement -- noting that the FRC had been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center -- in a blog post on Monday.
"If Josh Duggar wants to make a living dehumanizing and denigrating LGBT people and their families, that's his business, but FRC's lies and stereotypes need to be treated as such," said GLAAD rep Wilson Cruz. "Josh's new boss Tony Perkins has actually accused LGBT equality advocates of being pawns of the devil. Fans of his family's reality show ought to know that."
