Frank Stallone sparks backlash for branding Florida school shooting survivor David Hogg a 'rich little b****'

Stallone suggests in a now-deleted tweet that someone Hogg's age would want to 'sucker punch' him

Stallone also lashed out at fellow gun activist and Florida school shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez (Getty Images)

Frank Stallone has been fiercely criticised for branding a Florida school shooting survivor a “rich little b****” and arguing he should be “sucker punched”.

David Hogg, one of the most outspoken survivors of the Valentine’s Day bloodshed which left 17 dead, first gained headlines after it emerged he interviewed class mates while the massacre was taking place.

The teenager has since become a prominent voice in the debate around gun control and addressed a crowd of thousands at the Washington DC March For Our Lives rally last month. He welcomed demonstrators to the “revolution” for stricter gun laws and called for politicians who are supported by the National Rifle Association to get their “resumes ready”.

Stallone, an actor who is the younger brother of Sylvester Stallone, has provoked a ferocious backlash for his remarks about Mr Hogg.

"This David Hogg p***y is getting a little big for his britches. I'm sure someone from his age group is dying to sucker punch this rich little b****,” Stallone said in a now-deleted tweet.

“Watch him run home like the coward he is. He's the worst rep for today's youth headline grabbing punk”.

Stallone also lashed out at Emma Gonzalez - a fellow gun activist and student survivor from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

”Emma Gonzalez is another headline grabbing clown. She thinks she it she ain’t s***,” he said.

Despite the fact both tweets have been deleted and his account is now protected - so only visible to certain users - screenshots of the tweets have circulated on Twitter.

Stallone's criticism of the gun activists came after Twitter users also rebuked rocker Ted Nugent for saying the Florida students pushing for gun control are "mushy brained children" and "have no soul" on a conservative radio show.

Twitter users condemned Stallone, who is also a musician, for the vitriolic language he used about Mr Hogg.

"So @Stallone tweeted that David Hogg is a p***y who should have his ass kicked and run home like a coward. He then deleted the tweet & protected his account when called out on it. Who’s the p***y & coward now, Frank? Far from over, indeed. #sly’sbrother," podcast host Jimmy Pardo said.

"We don’t have to worry about a Frank Stallone boycott. That started in the late seventies,” quipped Judd Apatow.

According to his IMDb profile, Stallone last voiced Thunderhoof on the Transformers: Robots in Disguise TV show until 2017 and is currently starring in a film called Veterans Day and executive-producing a documentary about himself.