Nevada GOP Candidate's Online Forum Features Racial Slurs, Nazi Talk

An online forum controlled by Nevada Republican congressional candidate Marty O’Donnell has hosted thousands of posts containing racial slurs, minimizations of Nazi Germany, and defenses of white nationalist conspiracy theories, an Associated Press review found. The forum, known as “The Marty Army,” has been an attempt by O’Donnell to harness the enthusiasm of his fans for his campaign.

O’Donnell, a composer for the “Halo” video game franchise, has served as the forum’s de facto leader, referring to himself as its “benevolent dictator.” His campaign has held events for forum members and tapped them for campaign cash. The campaign stated that O'Donnell "has zero tolerance for hate" in his forum and has since hired a staffer to monitor and remove offensive posts. The campaign acknowledged that "some posts have been missed over the years."

Despite O’Donnell’s stated opposition to bigotry, many views expressed in the forum appear to contradict his campaign’s values. For instance, a former group member, Deacon Dameron, stated that the popular sentiment within the forum was, “Yes, slavery should be legal.”

An AP review of posts between 2022 and 2026 revealed numerous instances of offensive language. In May 2022, users reacted to a post with emoji letters to spell out racial slurs for Black people. In a January 2025 discussion about free speech, a member expressed a desire to use a racial slur but refrained, stating, “that’s not the attention Marty wants.” Former users indicated that coded language was often used to avoid moderators.

Posts from March 2024 included a user suggesting Nazis “did some good things” and another questioning if Hitler was “really an evil guy,” adding, “Like aside from the Holocaust… did he really even do anything wrong?” In February, a member posted, “Heil Hitler.”

O’Donnell has publicly rejected fascism but previously shared a photo of himself wearing a mask he described as resembling Benito Mussolini, an Italian dictator and ally of Hitler. His campaign denied he was dressed as Mussolini, stating the mask was part of a Halloween costume purchased for its frightening appearance.

O'Donnell, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is running against four-term Rep. Susie Lee in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District. Republicans have recently reduced spending in his race, signaling a challenging environment for the candidate.

In September, O'Donnell told a conservative news outlet that he believed antisemitism was no longer a significant concern and had merely “gone under the surface.” This statement followed a report that he had hosted a far-right influencer with alleged Nazi sympathies on his podcast. In the spring, O'Donnell had warned forum users about antisemitism, stating offenders would be “instantly banned.” However, users responded to his post with an emoji often associated with antisemitic sentiment and the Yiddish term “GOY,” which can be disparaging.

Wendy Melillo, an associate professor of journalism at American University specializing in extremist chat rooms, described such comments as