In 2014, Robert F Kennedy Jr found a dead bear on the side of the road. He decided to pick it up, pose for a photograph with his fingers in his mouth, and then dump the bear in New York's Central Park. 

Donald Trump has nominated this prankster, who also once drove around with a head he had removed from a dead whale attached to the top of his car, to serve as America's next health secretary - the top official overseeing disease prevention, the pharmaceuticalRelating to medical drugs or the process of making them. industry and the country's response to pandemics.

RFK is, perhaps more seriously, a conspiracy theoristA person who believes that some secret but influential organisation is responsible for a particular event or phenomenon. , with a record of making anti-scientific statements. His appointment has shocked many experts. Congressman Robert Garcia has called Kennedy's proposed appointment "insane". American Public Health Association director Georges C Benjamin calls him "a risk to the public's health."

A vocal critic of restrictions to limit the spread of Covid-19, Kennedy said at a press event last year in a video posted by the New York Post, that "Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese." Health specialists say these claims are false and that the virus does not target any specific ethnic group.

Kennedy is a member of a well-known DemocratA member of the Democratic party, the left-leaning US political party. political dynasty. He is the nephew of president John F KennedyPresident of the US from 1961 to 1963, when he was shot dead in Dallas. He was the fourth American president to be assassinated; Abraham Lincoln was the first.. But he has broken with his family's politics. He stood for president as an independent candidate, before pulling out and endorsing Trump.

Here are some of his most eye-opening claims - and what science says in response.

RFK's view on vaccines. Kennedy ran the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense. He has said: "there's no vaccine that is safe and effective". He has accused vaccines of causing autismA condition characterised by difficulty in social interaction and communication. According to the World Health Organisation, 1 in 160 children has an autism disorder..

What the science says. Severe side-effects from vaccines are very, very rare - and autism is not one of them. According to the WHOShort for the World Health Organisation., vaccines prevent up to five million deaths a year.¹

RFK's view on fluoride. Fluoride is added to drinking water in much of the US and UK. Kennedy claims it causes arthritis, bone fractures, cancer and IQA means of measuring human intelligence. A person's IQ is usually ascertained by making them sit a standardised test. Some have criticised these tests as a means of evaluating intelligence, claiming that they ignore much of what it means to be intelligent. loss.

What the science says. Dental research finds that fluoride helps strengthen tooth enamel and prevent decay. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention says it has reduced cavities by about 25%.² There are risks, however, associated with consuming too much fluoride. 

RFK's view on milk. RFK thinks that Americans should drink raw, unpasteurised milk.

What the science says. Raw milk is regularly connected to disease outbreaks, including a deadly strain of E. Coli.

RFK's view on food. RFK has pushed against processed foods, additives and artificial flavourings, as well as the herbicides and pesticides used in farming.

What the science says. RFK has a point. Research earlier this year found that those who eat ultra processed food face a 21% greater risk for death, a 22% increased risk of depression and a 40-66% increase in the risk of heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes and sleep problems.³

RFK's view on Covid-19. RFK has written that immunologist Anthony Fauci - Joe Biden's advisor during the Covid pandemic - is part of a "vaccine cartel" that secretly funds false research and builds 5GFifth generation mobile broadband. This is the latest broadband technology for mobile phones, and is estimated to be many times faster than the current 4G. networks to control the population. 

What the science says. This is a baseless conspiracy theoryAn explanation for a phenomenon that centres around the actions of sinister, shadowy groups, where an absence of evidence can be interpreted as evidence of its truth. .

Is the likely next US health secretary a crank?

Yes: Kennedy believes that antidepressants cause school shootings, that HIV does not cause Aids and that alternative medicine is the way forward. He is out of step with the evidence on almost everything.

No: Sometimes we need a maverickSomeone who thinks and behaves in an unusual way. to shake things up. Kennedy might not be right on everything, but some of his calls - such as restricting food additives and banning drug advertising - could do a lot of good.

Or... It doesn't matter. Kennedy is so controversial that his appointment may not be confirmed. If it is, he will find that a lot of his aims either contradict Trump's larger project or are controlled by individual states.