I’m unaware of this show to any extent
It seems they are hated for a number of the usual tropes detested by modern culture
Did they know Josh Duggar was a pedophile before the show
Asking ...
Before the show - and even during - he was still a child himself.
Like stated above - when you have a child that has an apparent issue like this, you don’t put them on television.
Apparently he molested his sisters a couple of years before the show started in 2008, and the parents either didn't know about it until subsequently, or went into denial. They sent him to a Christian work camp when they became aware, but it didn't "cure" the behavior. However, knowing he had this in his past, they subsequently urged him as a young adult to take a visible position with the otherwise-esteemed Family Research Council think tank in DC as a spokesperson, from which he had to resign publicly when his continued bad behavior burst onto the media again shortly after he took the position.
Were the pro-gay forces of opposition research active in this situation? Why yes, yes they were; but the behaviors were grievous, such as belonging to Ashley Madison and cacheing porn after he was married and a father, not even to mention the horrendous child sex abuse shown as evidence in the recent trial. He's a bad egg. The parents need to withdraw from holding themselves out as Christian role models for the extended time being.