Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently withdrew from the presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump. Kennedy claims to have endorsed Trump because he believes Kamala Harris poses a greater danger to the country than Trump. Yet Kennedy was reported to have sought out Harris, offering an endorsement in exchange for a position in her administration. Kennedy admits to having sought out Harris for some reason, but he was rebuffed days before endorsing Trump.

Kennedy’s discussions with the Trump campaign about a position in a potential Trump administration were apparently far more fruitful. In commenting on Kennedy’s endorsement, Trump said he “probably would” consider Kennedy for a role in his administration. Now some might think that Kennedy was shamelessly selling his endorsement to the highest bidder in order to get a significant government position. Or perhaps Kennedy thought that any administration agreeing to hire him is by definition better for the country. Either way, his road to the endorsement raises concerns.

The affection and intellectual closeness between Kennedy and Trump are clear. Upon receiving the endorsement, Trump said. “I like him a lot, I respect him a lot … He’s a great guy, respected by everybody.” Apparently not quite everybody. Certainly not by a man who as recently as May called Kennedy a “liberal lunatic” and the “dumbest member of the Kennedy Clan.” Yes, that man was the aforementioned Donald Trump. Trump deserves credit for likely being at least half right in the first comment about Kennedy above, and this exceeds his normal accuracy rate by about 50%.

So let’s look to what position within Trump’s administration would fit a man of Kennedy’s knowledge and talents. As there is no official cabinet position of Secretary for Conspiracy Theories, the obvious best position for Kennedy would be Secretary of Health and Human Services. In that role he would have a louder voice in the battle against vaccines that have proven effective against COVID-19 and ones that had come close to eradicating measles before some people became scared of taking the vaccines. In 2019, Kennedy traveled to Samoa to share with residents his unscientific and anti-scientific warnings about the dangers of the measles vaccine. Use of the vaccine in Samoa then plummeted, and shortly thereafter 3,000 people contracted measles, and 83 children died during a horrific outbreak which the World Health Organization blamed on the anti-vaccine scare created by Kennedy and others. Perhaps the polio vaccine is next on Kennedy’s hit list. In 2023, Kennedy suggested the polio vaccine likely caused cancer. Now, would he not fit perfectly in the administration of a man who suggested that one possible way to cure COVID is to inject bleach into our bodies?

Kennedy is no mere anti-vax extremist, however. He is worse. Trump is considering for his administration a man who was reported by the New York Post to have said in a dinner meeting that “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese. We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not.” That he had absolutely no support for this outrageous antisemitic, anti-Chinese statement is obvious. Kennedy also has a gift for overstatement, which should fit well with his possible future boss. In 2022, he said Anne Frank, who hid from the Nazis for years before eventually being captured and sent to her death in a concentration camp, had more freedom than people living under vaccine mandates. It is hardly surprising that so many members of Kennedy’s own family opposed his candidacy and the statements he has made. What does it say about Trump that he would consider such a man for a position in his government?

The man who told us that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, the 2020 election was stolen from him, the insurrectionist riot on Jan. 6, 2021, was peaceable and that the vice president has the power to overturn an election (it would be interesting to see if Trump believes the current veep can do that) has found his intellectual soulmate in the man who left a dead bear cub in Central Park and sees conspiracies whenever he opens his eyes. A marriage made in heaven.

Steven P. Grossman is the Dean Julius Isaacson Professor Emeritus at the University of Baltimore Law School. His email is sgrossman@ubalt.edu.