Online forum controlled by Nevada GOP House candidate contains slurs and Nazi talk, AP review finds

Marty O'Donnell, the Republican challenging Democratic Representative Susie Lee in a Las Vegas area House district, runs an online community whose posts include racial slurs and sympathetic talk about Nazi Germany, according to an Associated Press review of thousands of messages from 2022 to 2026. O'Donnell, a former composer for the Halo video games and a candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump, has used the group, called The Marty Army, to raise money ahead of the Nov. 3 election, according to ABC News.

The group began in 2001 as a fan chat room run by Halo developers, and O'Donnell later took charge and moved it to Discord. Most conversation concerns gaming, but the AP found users downplaying Nazi Germany and approving of fascist figures, with some offending messages still visible after their authors were removed. Former member Deacon Dameron said participants used coded wording to avoid moderators.

Campaign spokesman Keith Schipper said O'Donnell has zero tolerance for hate, that a staffer has policed the forum since spring, and that nearly 200 users have been banned, though some posts were overlooked. The race matters because Republicans, defending a slim House majority, have reduced spending in several contests, including this one.

Summarized by PolitiKool from ABC News’s reporting. Read the full story at ABC News →