Cases of Zika continue to increase in Florida, and containing the mosquitoes that carry the disease is proving difficult.
Zika virus is spreading in South Florida, state health officials confirmed on Tuesday, with reports of a new locally transmitted case in Miami-Dade County — this one outside of the Miami neighborhood where the nation’s first cluster of local infections emerged in July.
The effects of Zika are disastrous, heartbreaking, lifelong, and costly.
At least 12 babies in the United States have already been born with the heartbreaking brain damage caused by the Zika virus. And with that number expected to multiply, public health and pediatric specialists are scrambling as they have rarely done to prepare for the lifelong implications of each case.
Tim Kaine has called for a emergency session of Congress to deal with the Zika issue, but for the Trump campaign, Zika is not worth talking about.
Notably silent on the issue: Donald Trump, who lives part time at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. His campaign spokeswoman did not respond to multiple requests on how he plans to address the threat.
But not everyone on the Trump campaign is silent.
Juan Fiol, Trump’s vice chairman for Miami-Dade County, is betting most voters don’t care enough about Zika to warrant Trump’s attention.
“We have bigger mosquitoes to squash than Zika — like ISIS, the national debt, Iraq, and Afghanistan,” Fiol said, pounding his fist on the bar during an interview at a Trump party in downtown Miami. “We have a wall to build to keep the illegals out. We have so many other issues that are more important than this.”
He called Clinton “sophomoric” for “taking on such an insignificant issue.”
Surely the Trump campaign will be happy to meet with families affected by Zika and explain that their problems are insignificant. After all. Trump has already demonstrated his unique ability to comfort families dealing with tragedy.
There is one aspect of this that would capture the interest of most candidates.
Worried women, some visibly pregnant and others hoping to conceive, packed a hospital conference room, while outside the muggy June evening carried hints of the threat: Mosquito season has arrived in Florida.
With it comes a potentially potent political issue in a crucial swing state.
Anxious residents are looking to health experts to help them cope with the dangers of Zika, a virus that can result in devastating birth defects. In a presidential election that Democrats hope will hinge on questions of competent leadership, Hillary Clinton is pouncing on the public health threat.
Go on, Trump campaign. Run on imaginary fears, run on fantasy walls. Leave the real voters with real concerns to Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine.