Just published!

‘MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal –
And Other Shocking Notions’ just published

new book by gary abernathy, FORMER washington post contributing columnist

February 2024

CINCINNATI – Former Washington Post contributing columnist Gary Abernathy’s new book, “MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal – And Other Shocking Notions,” is now available in hardcover, paperback and eBook.

With Donald J. Trump the likely Republican nominee again for president in 2024, the new book offers timely and pertinent insight and analysis on how Trump voters are regarded – and too often disparaged – in the media and by many of Trump’s opponents. The book also details why the MAGA movement has become the driving force within the modern Republican Party, and why it will likely remain so for years to come, with or without Trump.

From 2017-23, Abernathy wrote nearly 200 columns for The Washington Post, having been invited to join the Opinion roster when the newspaper expanded the voices representing voters who put Donald Trump in the White House. The new book is a compilation of many of his columns, with new section introductions.

Abernathy is a veteran of both journalism and politics. In 2015, he was serving as publisher and editor of the (Hillsboro) Times-Gazette, a small newspaper in southern Ohio, when he began writing columns about Trump, recognizing the shift happening in the GOP. He predicted early in the process that the billionaire businessman and reality TV star would win the GOP presidential nomination.

In October 2016, his newspaper became only the sixth in the country to endorse Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and the endorsement drew national attention. Throughout the campaign and in the months following Trump’s historic upset victory, Abernathy continued writing about Trump. “MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal” opens with some of the columns written for the Times-Gazette that caught the attention of the Post.

In June 2017, Abernathy was invited to join the Post as a contributing columnist. Over the next six years, he wrote on Trump, covid, guns, abortion, immigration, and countless other hot-button issues. He regularly appeared as an analyst on other media platforms, and frequently on PBS’ “NewsHour.”

“While I wrote on many topics for the Post – and wrote favorably and unfavorably about Trump himself – I returned often to defending the people who supported Trump against frequent allegations of racism, ignorance and even being ‘threats to democracy,’” Abernathy said. “We’re hearing those same accusations today. I wanted to present a more accurate portrayal of these Americans as the honest, hardworking, patriotic and caring citizens they are.”

Abernathy’s goal was to counter the claim expressed often that “normalizing” Trump supporters through positive media portrayals is somehow dangerous. Among many other topics, “MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal,” available now from Amazon, presents a collection of essays arguing that Trump supporters are unfairly disparaged – it’s often their critics who are outside the real mainstream of American thought.