Donald Trump campaigned in two Florida cities Wednesday without addressing growing public health concerns over an outbreak of locally borne Zika infections in the state.
And when pressed by a local reporter for his plan to combat the virus, which two days earlier prompted the Centers for Disease Control to warn people from traveling to a Miami neighborhood, Trump demurred. He simply saying that the state’s Republican governor is doing a “fantastic job” and “seems to have it under control.”
“You have a great governor who’s doing a fantastic job — Rick Scott — on the Zika. And it’s a problem. It’s a big problem. But I watch and I see. And I see what they’re doing with the spraying and everything else. And I think he’s doing a fantastic job and he’s letting everyone know exactly what the problem is and how to get rid of it. He’s going to have it under control, he probably already does,” Trump told the WPEC news station.
Trump also did not offer a position on whether Congress should reconvene in an emergence session to pass a bill authorizing federal funding to combat the disease, which has reached epidemic levels in several South American countries.
Again, he passed the buck to the Florida governor, who chairs a pro-Trump super PAC.
“I would say that it’s up to Rick Scott. It depends on what he’s looking to do because he really seems to have it under control in Florida,” Trump replied.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether Trump has a plan to combat Zika.