Marty O’Donnell attacks Rep. Lee, D-Nev., at RNC midterm convention

Acknowledging economic headwinds, Nevadan Marty O’Donnell, a U.S. House candidate, told the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention Thursday that President Donald Trump needs help advancing his administration’s agenda.

“We have to give this president bigger majorities in Congress so we can help him finish the job, because the Democrats won’t stop trying to stack the deck,” he said from the convention floor in Dallas, Texas.

The award-winning composer is trying to unseat Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., in November. On Thursday, he attacked her and her party, and touted the Trump administration’s work over the last 19 months.

“I’m Marty O’Donnell, and I’m running to retire ‘Dumbocrat’ Susie Lee in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District,” he said to applause. The president previously introduced the term “Dumbocrat” as an insult against the opposition party.

O’Donnell’s roughly six-minute speech served as an introduction to a national audience as the party tries to boost its chances in November’s midterms, when the majority party routinely loses seats in Congress.

He highlighted his career as a composer of music for popular video games including the Halo franchise and said he was running for office for his family and their future.

He spoke about the American Dream — owning a home and raising a family on a single income — that no longer exists for everyone, he said, blaming former President Joe Biden’s administration and Democrats like Lee.

“Now many need two incomes just to tread water,” O’Donnell said, “And we’re still digging our way out of Biden’s inflation crisis. Yes, young people can’t afford homes. Families are stretched to the limit, and the Democrats in Washington, most of them, have no idea what that feels like.”

Trump, on the other hand, is fighting for American families,” O’Donnell said. “And he’s doing it with almost no help from the other side. Democrats like Susie Lee certainly are not helping him.”

Lee’s campaign did not comment on O’Donnell’s speech Thursday, but the Nevada State Democratic Party issued a statement saying the Nevada Republican ran off to Texas for a “five-minute sideshow” hours before Trump was slated to take the stage.

“California multimillionaire Marty O’Donnell spent his day at Donald Trump’s $40 million Texas extravaganza kissing up to a failed president as Nevadans struggle to make ends meet,” party spokesperson Asaf Grofman wrote in the statement. “As even extreme MAGA Republicans stay away from the toxic President, O’Donnell is making clear his main concern is promoting Trump’s cost-raising agenda anywhere he can rather than lowering costs for struggling families here at home.”

O’Donnell was the only one of four Nevada Republicans vying for House seats to address the convention.

The two-day convention’s final day arrived as Emerson College Polling, in a survey partnership with KLAS-TV, released a poll of 680 likely Nevada voters that found Trump had a 37 percent approval rating, with 55 percent of respondents disapproving.

Las Vegas was floated as a possible convention location for the atypical event usually held during presidential election years. Organizers instead chose a Texas arena.