When we think about the many officials in the Trump administration who hold positions of power and authority despite their backgrounds and lack of qualifications, we tend to focus on high-profile figures, such as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, among others.

But just below this level is another group of officials in key positions. Their names might not be immediately recognizable to most Americans, but they have important responsibilities despite their backgrounds and lack of qualifications.

Marty Makary, for example, recently left his position as the head of the Food and Drug Administration, leaving a young Florida lawyer named Kyle Diamantas to serve as the acting FDA commissioner. As Rolling Stone noted, Diamantas, who has no medical background, is perhaps best known for being hunting buddies with Donald Trump Jr., before he took on a role helping lead the administration’s food safety program.

There are countless related examples — the teleportation guy leading the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Office of Response and Recovery also comes to mind — though another unexpected one emerged last week when we learned more about Dr. Brian Christine, one of the top public health officials in charge of infectious disease policy.

Though Christine, who came highly recommended by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, is not well known nationally, he recently spoke at the Trump administration’s press conference on the U.S. response to the hantavirus outbreak.

Viewers probably didn’t fully appreciate why Christine was a provocative choice to speak on behalf of the administration. CNN reported:

Before he joined the Trump administration last year, Christine was an Alabama-based urologist who specialized in penile implants. He has little public health experience and a history of far-right commentary and promoting conspiracy theories. He’s said the Covid pandemic led to a wider government plot to control people, compared the Biden administration to Nazi Germany and suggested the Covid vaccine had little effect in stopping the pandemic.

He once hosted a YouTube show called “Erection Connection,” a professional YouTube series on erectile dysfunction for fellow urologists.

Yes, the guy who’s helping lead the U.S. response to the hantavirus outbreak is a conspiratorial penile implant specialist.

At the press conference, Christine assured Americans that the risk of hantavirus to the general public “remains very, very low.” That certainly sounds good, though given the circumstances, perhaps the Trump administration could find someone else with more credibility to make such a declaration?

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