Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Donnelly, who faced criticism when he was the lone Assembly member to vote against a ban on state-run souvenir shops selling Confederate memorabilia, is under fire again for a comment that one opponent said gave equal weight to the Nazi and Israeli flags.

"I would never vote to ban the Nazi flag," Donnelly said Friday in an interview with KSCO-AM radio in Santa Cruz in explaining his vote May 5 against a ban on the state sale or display of the Confederate flag, an action he said was a defense of free speech. "I would never vote to ban the Israeli flag, or the Palestinian flag or any other flag."

The campaign of Republican gubernatorial hopeful Neel Kashkari said Donnelly's mention of the Nazi and Israeli flags in the same breath appeared to place them on equal footing.

"The growing pattern of Tim Donnelly making bizarre and offensive comments that continue to marginalize more and more Californians is devastating for Republicans and an absolute dream for Democrats," said campaign spokesman Aaron McLear. "We cannot afford a top-of-the-ticket standard-bearer who goes out of his way to ostracize the vast majority of Californians."

'I swore an oath'

In an interview Monday with The Chronicle, Donnelly defended both his vote and the radio comments and denied he was likening the Nazi and Israeli flags. "I swore an oath to defend the Constitution and the First Amendment right of free speech," he said. "It's that simple."

Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks (San Bernardino County), has never shied from controversy - he founded the California chapter of the Minutemen, a self-styled border patrol, and the gun rights advocate was cited for bringing a loaded firearm to the Ontario Airport. But he's come under greater scrutiny as polls for the June 3 gubernatorial primary have shown him leading Kashkari and other candidates hoping to qualify for the November general election against Gov. Jerry Brown.

As Donnelly prepares for his lone pre-primary debate with Kashkari on Wednesday, he's been playing whack-a-mole defending remarks that he's aimed mainly at his Tea Party base.

Most recently, Donnelly was forced to address criticism regarding Facebook posts charging that Kashkari's role in a 2008 federal seminar called Islamic Finance 101 suggested that the former Treasury Department official sympathized with Islamic Shariah law. Donnelly has since retracted the comments about Kashkari, who is Hindu.

In April, Donnelly was put on the defensive when comments he made in a 2006 speech on illegal immigration were reported. In that speech, he said, "I am a descendant of Jim Bowie, who died at the Alamo. ... It is rumored that he took a dozen Mexican soldiers to their deaths before they finally killed him. How many of you will rise up and take his place on that wall?"

Confederate money

The flag controversy arose after the mother of Assemblyman Isadore Hall III, D-Compton (Los Angeles County), saw a replica of Confederate money being sold at a state Capitol gift shop. The money depicted the Confederate flag, which Hall said was "directly linked to the enslavement, torture and murder" of blacks.

His bill banning such items from state-run stores passed 72-1 and advanced to the state Senate.

Jessica Levinson, a professor of political law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said it appeared that Donnelly "was just calling out two sides of the debate" when he said he would allow the sale of the Nazi flag, the Israeli flag or any other flag in a state-run store.

"It's completely defensible to say, 'There are good things, there are bad things, and I won't vote to ban any of them,' " Levinson said. "But when voters hear it together, that's not how it plays."

She added, "Whenever a comparison is made to Hitler or Nazis, it's never good politics."

Donnelly's comments could be a gift for Kashkari, a first-time candidate who has struggled to compete with Donnelly's name recognition and grassroots support among Republicans.

Kashkari has tried to compensate by touting endorsements from establishment Republicans like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Gov. Pete Wilson.

GOP ripple effect?

Kashkari's campaign has suggested that if Donnelly advances to the November election, the ripple effect on state Republican candidates could be similar to what happened nationally in 2012 when Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin suggested there was such a thing as "legitimate" rape.

And Kashkari, who once vowed never to self-fund his campaign, recently poured $1 million of his own money into the effort - a move that some suggest is evidence that poll numbers are moving his way.

Donnelly insisted that he was merely using examples to dramatize the debate about free speech and was "absolutely not" comparing the Nazi flag to the Israeli flag.

"I've stated what I said about symbols that I find abhorrent," he said. "There are people who find both of those flags abhorrent. ... And if you're on one side of a cause or another, it was never the design of the Constitution to pick sides."

Larry Gerston, professor of politics at San Jose State University, said that "with this sort of absolutist approach - where everything and anything goes - he's really saying it's a no-holds-barred society. ... I think most people would think that is an extreme position.

"I can't get into his head," Gerston said, "but I imagine what he's trying to do is draw extremes" to make a point.