Funny man Mike Huckabee went reaching for a laugh line at a rally in Florida for Donald Trump yesterday and, as sometimes happens with the Huckster, the effort fell flat. Joking about the Zika virus, which can cause birth defects, is not exactly rib-tickling.

The Huckabee lead balloon is popping up all over the Internet, including here on Huffington Post. Quote:

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“I’m a lot more afraid of a Hillary Clinton presidency than I am of getting a mosquito bite in South Florida,” Huckabee said. 

Florida was a particularly poor place to joke about Zika, because Miami has been a hotbed of cases.

The Huckabee crack was discordant also  because Trump has been missing in action on the issue.

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At previous campaign events in Florida, Trump has remained silent on the issue, even as Florida lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have sounded the alarm for Congress to act quickly and pass funding to fight the virus.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday said local health officials have already counted 21 people with locally transmitted Zika virus.

“This is not only an issue affecting us here in Florida — this is a national issue,” Scott said. “The federal government must stop playing politics and Congress needs to immediately come back to session to resolve this.”

National issue? Not to the Huckster. It’s just punch line material for  the Fox News commentator and father of a paid Trump campaigner, daughter Sarah. Perhaps this might sway some of those Floridians who thought in a recent poll that Huckabee might make them a good governor. Those of us in Huck’s Banana Republic are too familiar with his ability to overload his lip.

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