Tim Donnelly
CNN  — 

A Republican congressional candidate in California has repeatedly compared Parkland High School shooting survivor David Hogg and participants in the “March for Our Lives” movement to Adolf Hitler, a KFile review of his social media accounts show.

Tim Donnelly, a former state assemblyman, is challenging GOP Rep. Paul Cook in the state’s 8th Congressional District. Donnelly ran for the seat in the 2016 but came in third by a percentage point in California’s primary, missing the cut for the top two spots that advanced to the November general election. He previously finished a close third in the jungle primary for California’s governorship in 2014.

In his posts, Donnelly singled out Hogg in particular, spreading a false claim that Hogg wasn’t at Parkland High School on the day of the mass shooting and that he went to the school after the shooting took place to speak with the media.

“I wonder if the #MarchForOurLives tools know how Hitlerian they look and sound. #pawns #tools #Leftists #NRA #2a #HoggWash #HoggPack,” Donnelly tweeted on March 24, with a screen grab of Hogg speaking at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington, DC.

Three days later, Donnelly started spreading the unfounded conspiracy about Hogg, again comparing him to Hitler.

“So let me get this straight, That Hogg guy, the one with a Hitlerian fetish to disarm Americans, who’s become the face of #Parklandsurvivors–@davidhogg111– admits that he wasn’t even at the school during the shooting, just showed up afterwards in time to get his mug on TV. Sounds like #hoggwash to me!” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Donnelly tweeted three days later that Hogg was a “#FakeParklandSurvivor.”

The claim that Hogg wasn’t at the school during the shooting is a fringe conspiracy theory that has been repeatedly debunked by fact-checking websites.

A spokesperson for Donnelly’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

On April 1, Donnelly posted a Facebook video in which he called Hogg a “media whore” and a “media hog” and again spread the fake claim he wasn’t at the school on the day of the shooting.

“We see this kid, David Hogg, who’s been lying about the fact – he wasn’t even at the school. And yet, he’s called a Parkland survivor. I’m sorry. I don’t get that. If you weren’t there you’re not a survivor,” said Donnelly.

“He was a shower-upper afterward – who in his own words on a CBS video said, ‘I showed up as soon as I saw what was happening. I showed up so I could go talk to the news cameras.’ That guy is just a media whore or, I guess, a media hog might be a better description. But he’s not a victim who is out there fighting for justice,” he added. “And yet with the power of the leftist media he has been able so far to remove somewhere between 11 and 20 of Laura Ingraham’s supporters and sponsors because these guys understand what is at stake. They want to take your guns away so that they have absolute control of our society.”