Joseph Duggar is currently out of jail on bond and (likely) reunited with his wife Kendra for the time being. However, before Joe bonded out of jail on March 31, the disgraced Counting On star made numerous jailhouse phone calls with Kendra, including one on March 23 in which Kendra tries to tell her husband how badly she is struggling amidst his incarceration and the temporary loss of their four kids.
At one point during the March 23 call, Kendra tells Joe— who was arrested last month for allegedly sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl in 2020— how hard it is to be alone with her own thoughts, even seeming surprised that she hasn’t “died yet.”
(As The Ashley previously reported, Kendra— as well as Joe— were each charged on March 20 with four counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and four counts of false imprisonment. As a condition of their release, Kendra and Joe are not allowed to have any contact with their victims– whom they have revealed via jail calls to be their four kids— until their court date at the end of April.)
“I’m sure your thoughts are so loud, I know how loud mine are,” Kendra told her hubby during the call.
Joe doesn’t seem to notice that his wife is trying to explain how badly she’s struggling. Instead of comforting her, he talks about how loud things are in jail.
“Sometimes in the cells next door to me sometimes I can’t even hear myself think whenever they’re next door,” Joe said.
“Well, that might be better!” Kendra says with a chuckle. “That might be better than hearing yourself think because if I’m in the quiet— if I’m by myself— it’s just not a good thing. But I haven’t died yet, right? So, I’m like, ‘I haven’t died.'”
Joe seems uncomfortable hearing Kendra talk about death, so he goes right into Bible-talk.
“I feel like reading the Psalms have helped me a lot,” he tells Kendra, who informs him she’s not even able to read right now.
“That’s the thing; my brain had to slow down because it was going too quick whenever I first got in here,” Joe says. “It took a while for it to calm and then I…came to the realization that ‘I’m here. I need to just embrace where God has me and where I am, like Joseph [from the Bible]…”
(As The Ashley previously reported, Joe’s father Jim Bob Duggar compared his son’s current plight to that of the Bible character Joseph as well. In an email sent to Joseph in jail last month, Jim Bob reminded his son that Joseph from the Bible was able to “make lemonade out of lemons.”)
Kendra breathlessly acknowledges what her husband is saying but is clearly still struggling.
Joe tells Kendra they just have to get “over this hump,” to which Kendra replies “May God have mercy on us.”
“That’s what I’m praying for— mercy and grace,” she adds.
Later, Joe does try to encourage Kendra, telling her, “God’s still on our side, OK? God knows where we are. And that’s what I’ve been encouraging myself. You know? It doesn’t matter where we are, what’s going on and everything, God’s gonna— if we’re honest before God and before everyone, we can’t worry about what the world’s gonna want to do with us. Because the world doesn’t love God, you know? But we can still love God and we can honor Him.”
Kendra tells Joe that her anxiety levels are at an all-time high, and that she was “spiraling” in bed, prompting Joe’s mother Michelle to bring food up to her and pray with her to help calm her down.
“I think that I can’t be by myself for too long… that’s just where I’m at,” Kendra says.
Joe tells Kendra that he’s been praying that she will be able to rest, eat and have energy. (Kendra says she may need to get nutrition intravenously, as she did once before.)
“I just want you to know where I’m at, it’s really hard. I’m in a really hard spot, too. I know you are but I feel like I need to be encouraged,” Kendra tells Joe.
Joe vows to pray that God will give Kendra the ability “to do the right things.”
Joe tells Kendra that she never leaves his thoughts, except for when he’s thinking about Psalms.
“Oh, and the kids, obviously,” he adds. “I am praying a lot for them too.”
View this post on Instagram
“Yes, please do,” Kendra replies. “They need our prayers as well. I’m sure they’re going to be very resilient little things…”
Kendra also vows to get the kids into counseling and get the, whatever other help they may need to recover from the situation the family’s currently in.
Joe is due back in court in Florida on April 20.
You can listen to audio of Joe and Kendra’s call from March 23 below.
@theashleysrealityroundup JAIL CALL AUDIO: Kendra Duggar Tells Husband Joe: "May God Have Mercy on Us" Kendra Duggar tells her jailbird husband Joe Duggar that she's praying for mercy, and reveal how badly she's struggling with his incarceration, even seeming surprised she hasn't "died yet." Read the full article here: https://www.theashleysrealityroundup.com/2026/04/06/kendra-duggar-tells-joe-duggar-may-god-have-mercy-on-us-in-jail-phone-call-jokes-she-hasnt-died-yet/ #fypp #fypシ #fypage #RealityTV #theashleysrealityroundup #fypシ゚viral #Theashley #FYPp #FYPpage #FYP #realitytvnews #Viral #viralvideos #duggarfamily #duggartok #duggartea #joeduggarinjail #JoeDuggar #JosephDuggar #KendraDuggar ♬ original sound – The Ashley’s Reality Roundup
RELATED STORY: Kendra Duggar’s Parents Launch GoFundMe to Pay for Legal Fees & Housing After Feud with Kendra & Duggars Leaves Them Without a Home
(Photos: TLC; Instagram)
15 Responses
This is the culture they’re raised in. His parents tried their best to cover up the oldest molesting his own sisters. They’re all about protecting the males at all costs. The majority of them are all pieces of sh*t!
People like this make me question religion every day. Your imaginary dude in the sky, and some guy on a cross come back as a zombie FOR US! Gtfoh. Crazy talk.
Here is the Bible story of Joseph:
After being falsely accused of attempted rape by Potiphar’s wife, Joseph was imprisoned in Egypt in the jail where the king’s prisoners were kept. Despite this injustice, God was with Joseph, granting him favor with the warden, who eventually put him in charge of all prisoners.
I fail to see ANY correlation here between the 2 Josephs. Is JB trying to convince everyone that his son has been falsely accused???
Sick People
They are incredibly delusional. Thank you for sharing the story, to push home how delusional these cretinous caricatures of people are.
Trash… *that gif with the guy closing his laptop saying trash*
Sadly they don’t think it’s a false accusation, it’s worse than that. They literally think it’s not wrong to commit these heinous acts at all, especially if you say sorry. You only say sorry if someone tells you that it was harmful….(not that you agree or believe it is, of course). That is what they are taught and believe.
Sick doesn’t begin to describe it.
You are 100% correct! They think its ok to be abusive if you repent. His wife is no better than Joshs wife Anna. I also think those ladies like the $$$$. Dont rock the boat as long as you can keep your Mcmansion and Range Rover.
Kendra is just looking for sympathy. This isn’t some guilt-ridden response. If she cared at all about anyone other than herself, she’d make it known. If she was any kind of loving parent, she’d worry more about her kids. Every other line out of her mouth is basically “what about me and what I’m going through”. No concern the kids, no concern for the victim, just herself. Sick fuck.
I think she’s starting to realize that she’s not going to get away with her own crimes, so she’s lying as much as she can to try and make it seem like she’s a victim
Again, sick fuck.
I still hope CPS takes the kids forever, they deserve a good loving home where the won’t be victimized or harmed in any way. These two need to be locked up for a good long while. ANYONE that supports her or him, should be investigated too, as it’s obvious she is as guilty as him.
Also,god hates ugly and anyone that harms children is as ugly as it gets. Hopefully she’s starting to realize that too. God hates her….
Her husband’s response to her should be remorseful and apologetic for the things he’s done to the victim and the things he put her through but instead he’s making it all about himself and how he is suffering in prison like some kind of hero. I think she is trying to express how she feels but they are taught that a wife should never complain or disagree with her husband. He’s not just not getting it. I don’t know how she could stay with him but she is probably being blamed for it. It makes me sick how he is acting like a martyr and they are all helping him.
Please don’t make excuses for her. They are BOTH pieces of shit, full stop. Regardless if either of their upbringings, they are pieces of shit and deserve everything they get, and a lot more they’ll likely never get because the justice system is not just. No one should give a shit about her feelings. She damn well knows he won’t so her pleas are really for the general public. Did you not pay attention to the fact that she has COACHES telling her how to behave and what to say? It’s simply a means to pretend like she’s a victim too
Nope, not buying it, she’s a piece of shit just like him and should rot right alongside him. Don’t forget, she’s known about this longer than the public, she knew what he did, knew what his family is like and STILL doest care about her own kids now that she was caught putting them in harm’s way too.
1) I doubt God is on the side of somebody that did such evil to a child.
2) Kendra is basically telling him she’s s***idal and racked with guilt and he’s just talking about how jail is uncomfortable.
3) If he really meant what he said about being honest before God and everybody else, he shouldn’t have entered a Not Guilty plea.
4) This exchange did give me a *little bit* of hope that Kendra may actually be on the track of *eventually* seeing the light since she seems to feel some type of remorse and is talking about counseling for the kids. I won’t hold my breath, though, especially with her surrounded by Duggars.
I totally agree. I’m not as biblical literate as some but I remember there are verses about how God and Jesus blessed the children but I don’t remember the next part including blessings for the child abusers…
Also as I was reading this all I could think was Joe listen to your wife…actually hear her. She maybe using their fundy required wife talk but she’s basically s**cidal. She’s not eating and freaking out. Joe…pull your head out and hear her before you lose her.
She is not suicidal ffs, it’s an ACT, she has said they brought people in to coach her behavior and speech.
If she was suicidal, I still wouldn’t care, no one should. She put her children in harm’s way, intentionally, knew her husband was the monster he is, and did nothing.
Let her rot.
Did he lose his Bible while he was forcibly touching and sexually abusing a child? Please Joseph, enlighten me. I’d love to hear how Joseph and his equally delusional and stupid wife twist the scriptures to make what he did ok.
Let’s take a simple commandment. “thou shall not lie”. Joseph admits to sexually abusing a child. Then he pleads “not guilty”. That’s a liar in my book.
Reading comprehension and morals are clearly lacking in this Duggar cult.
Right? His daddy said you just have to say sorry and everything is all better. No consequences or accountability for any of their actions. It’s disgusting