A pastor who endorsed Donald Trump - and delivered the invocation at a rally for the GOP frontrunner in January - is a Sandy Hook 'truther' who claims the grieving parents of the young victims in the Newtown massacre are Hollywood actors.

The Rev. Carl Gallups, a Southern Baptist pastor from Milton, Florida, gave the invocation at Trump's Pensacola rally - which attracted more than 10,000 people - on January 14.

At the time, Trump said it was a 'great honor' to receive the endorsement of Gallups and several other Florida community leaders.

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Rev. Carl Gallups (pictured, at the Pensacola rally) who delivered the invocation at a rally for the GOP frontrunner in January – is a Sandy Hook 'truther' who claims the 2012 school shootings never happened

But it has emerged that on a radio show earlier this year, Gallups denied the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School - where 20 young children were murdered by Adam Lanza as well as six members of staff in 2012 - ever happened.

Gallups also insisted that David and Francine Wheeler - who lost their six-year-old son Ben in the shootings - are 'paid Hollywood actors' and part of a conspiracy involving President Barack Obama.

The self-proclaimed 'truther' claims not a single shot was fired and no one died in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012. Reports say more than 150 bullets were fired.

'This guy named David Wheeler, who was dragged before the nation by Obama after the Newtown school shootings, supposedly Sandy Hook, and played the part of grieving father with a woman standing beside him, crying, slinging snot,' Gallups said in the interview, according to the New York Daily News.

Gallups insists David and Francine Wheeler (pictured in 2013 holding a picture of their son Ben, six, who died) are 'Hollywood actors'

Gallups claims no-one died in the 2012 massacre, during which Adam Lanza shot 20 young children and six staff members dead. Pictured, boy scouts salute during Ben Wheeler's funeral process on December 20, 2012

'This guy, he and his so-called wife, are standing up there and grieving - "my child, my child, this and that, we gotta take the guns."

'This dude is a Hollywood actor, his so-called wife is a Hollywood actor.'

In the same broadcast, Gallups' guest referred to the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 as 'the Boston Hoaxathon'.

Ahead of the Florida primary next week and Trump, a Presbyterian who has said he has never sought God's forgiveness for his sins, botches Bible references, courting the conservative Christian vote, Gallups said he had many conversations with Christian voters about making a pragmatic choice in favor of Trump.

'I tell them, if you are not thoroughly satisfied with what you might interpret the depth of his faith might be, then the next thing we must look at is the candidate who will best preserve your First Amendment rights and allow you to express your Christian faith,' Gallups said.

The Southern Baptist pastor from Milton, Florida, pictured giving the invocation at Trump's Pensacola rally – which attracted more than 10,000 people - on January 14

Gallups said he had many conversations with Christian voters about making a pragmatic choice in favor of Trump (pictured at the rally in January)

Around 10,000 people poured into the Pensacola Bay Center in Florida on January 14 for the Trump rally

'We're not electing a priest, a pope or a pastor. We're electing a president, a CEO, a commander in chief. I'm not perfectly happy with Donald Trump either, but I'm a realist.'

After Gallups endorsed Trump in January, Trump released a statement expressing his delight.

The news release referred to Gallups as an author, radio and television talk show host and senior pastor of Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton.

'It is my great honor to receive endorsements from each of these incredible people,' Trump said.

'Their support for my message and endorsement of my candidacy for President of the United States means so much to me, and with their help, and the help of so many great people in Florida and all over the country, we will Make America Great Again!'

It comes after Trump's bid for president received the support of Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke.