Marty O’Donnell, the longtime “Halo” video game composer now running for Congress in Nevada’s 3rd District, is facing renewed scrutiny over his past political statements as he seeks to rebrand himself as a pro-Trump, “America First” conservative.
Independent journalist Laura Loomer reported this week that O’Donnell has publicly said he would drop out of the 2026 congressional race if President Donald Trump does not endorse him. Loomer’s reporting highlights a record of social media posts and policy positions that appear to conflict with O’Donnell’s current political messaging.
According to archived posts cited in the report, O’Donnell criticized Trump repeatedly during the 2016 election and his first term. In February 2016, he wrote, “Donald Trump is an idiot. Period.”
Later posts from 2017 and 2018 expressed opposition to both Trump and Hillary Clinton, urging others not to associate him with President Trump. O’Donnell has since deleted many of those posts.
Loomer also pointed to leaked audio from a 2024 UNLV College Republicans meeting in which O’Donnell said he would “probably do nothing” in Congress regarding policies barring biological males from competing in women’s sports.
Federal Election Commission records show O’Donnell did not donate to Trump’s presidential campaigns but contributed $50,000 to the Trump–Vance Inaugural Committee in 2025. O’Donnell has not publicly responded to the reporting.
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