Gary Abernathy (born 1956[3]) is an American political commentator who writes a nationally syndicated column for The Washington Post and makes frequent appearances on the PBS NewsHour.
A former newspaper editor and state Republican Party official, he is noted for his politically conservative views from a rural perspective.
He was dismissed in 2004 after alleging that the party's chairman, Kris Warner, had overspent on his brother Monty's gubernatorial campaign.
[4] He led the Times-Gazette in giving Donald Trump a rare newspaper endorsement in the 2016 presidential election, which was unremarkable among the paper's Highland County readers but attracted international attention.
[17][18] In 2017, The Washington Post added Abernathy as a contributing columnist to diversify its editorial pages with a conservative viewpoint from outside the Beltway.
[21] Several years ago, Abernathy occasionally performed with a band as an Elvis tribute artist, sometimes at political functions.