Author Description

In 2015, the publisher and editor of a small-town newspaper located in southern Ohio began writing columns about a controversial candidate vying for the Republican nomination for president of the United States – Donald J. Trump. Gary Abernathy, a veteran of journalism and politics, recognized the shift happening in the GOP and predicted earlier than most that Trump would end up being the Republican standard bearer. In October 2016, his newspaper became only the sixth in the country to endorse Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The endorsement by the small paper in Hillsboro, Ohio, drew national attention. Throughout the 2016 campaign and in the months following Trump’s historic upset victory, Abernathy continued writing about Trump. His columns eventually caught the attention of The Washington Post, where opinion page leaders were interested in better reflecting viewpoints from parts of the country that supported Trump. In June 2017, Abernathy was invited to join The Post as a contributing columnist. Over the next six years, he penned nearly 200 columns for The Post on issues ranging from Trump to guns to abortion to immigration and countless other hot-button issues. More than anything, though, Abernathy focused his columns on defending the Americans who supported Trump against frequent accusations of racism, ignorance and even being “threats to democracy,” portraying them instead as the honest, hardworking, patriotic citizens he knew them to be. Abernathy’s goal was to counter the fear expressed so often that “normalizing” Trump supporters through positive media portrayals was somehow dangerous. Among many other topics, “MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal” presents a collection of essays arguing that Trump supporters are unfairly disparaged – and it’s often their critics who are outside the real mainstream of American thought.