Reality

Derick Dillard Defends Beliefs After Criticism of His Religious Message

Derick Dillard is defending himself after a critical response to his New Year’s message struck the […]

Derick Dillard is defending himself after a critical response to his New Year’s message struck the Counting On alum the wrong way. The husband of Jill (Duggar) Dillard rang in 2020 with a message about his Christian faith on Twitter, writing, “Happy New Year! May we follow the Lord Jesus more closely in 2020 than ever before!”

After sending the message, one of Dillard’s followers took issue with the sentiment, writing, “I’d perhaps look closer to science, but that’s me.”

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But Dillard was quick to respond, writing back that he supports science “100%.”

It didn’t strike the follower as particularly truthful, however, as they clapped back days later that Dillard can’t “just support the bits” he likes.

Dillard has been particularly active on Twitter as of late, even using the responses on his social media account to spill the tea about his wife’s family, including the claim that Jim Bob Duggar won’t allow his daughter over at the house without express permission.

“Jill even had to ask [Jim Bob’s] permission to go over to the house to help her sister when she was in labor because her sister wanted her help, but Jill couldn’t provide the assistance until we got it cleared with [Jim Bob],” he wrote on Twitter last month, also dishing as to why he and Jill eventually quit filming Counting On.

“We were made to believe we didn’t have a choice and that we would be sued if we refused. However, once we became more enlightened, we realized that we could easily defend ourselves in against a lawsuit from the family/TLC,” he continued. “We were pressured to think that we were required to and that we would get sued if we didn’t.”

Then appearing to reference Jill’s alleged molestation at the hands of brother Josh Duggar, the law student continued, “It’s not going to look good for TLC when it’s exposed that they pressured an abuse victim to continue filming when we tried to quit, just so they could continue with Jill & Jessa: Counting On after [19 Kids and Counting].”

The rest of the Duggar family has yet to respond publicly to his statements.

Photo credit: M. Sharkey / Getty Images