In an interview published Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said if elected to the White House, he would consider recruiting Democratic presidential candidate and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve in his cabinet, adding he'd "sic him" on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

They agree on their opposition to the COVID-19 strategies of Dr. Anthony Fauci "and the corruption in the health bureaucracy,” the Republican presidential candidate said, but he wouldn’t bring on RFK Jr. as a running mate because of their disagreements on the existence of climate change, affirmative action in higher education and other liberal positions held by the Kennedy family scion.

“At the end of the day, you need somebody that’s going to reflect the values of a broad coalition [to be the nominee for vice president]. Yes, the medical stuff I’m very good on that, so that does appeal to me,” DeSantis told Clay Travis, the founder of the conservative sports website OutKick. “But there’s a whole host of other things that he’d probably be out of step with. So in that regard, if you’re president, sic him on the FDA if he’d be willing to serve or sic him on CDC.”

“But in terms of being veep, if there’s 70% of the issues that he might be adverse to our base on, that just creates an issue,” he added.

Kennedy launched a primary challenge to President Joe Biden after decades of promoting debunked vaccine conspiracies, an unpopular stance in Democratic politics. But the son of Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, his name recognition has garnered him media attention and helped him reach the teens in Democratic primary polling.

Prominent Democrats have repeatedly denounced Kennedy, including three of his siblings and his nephew, former Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III. Kennedy III serves as Biden’s envoy to Northern Ireland.

The most recent round of condemnation came after a video leaked to the press of him spouting a conspiracy theory that “COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately. COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Kennedy’s remarks “false” and “vile.” His sister Kerry Kennedy, who runs the human rights organization named for their father, called them “deplorable and untruthful.” Another sister, Rory Kennedy, told the Guardian “remarks like Bobby’s only serve to fuel that hate.”

Instead the longshot Democratic presidential candidate has drawn praise from the other side of the aisle, including GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.

“He’s a very smart person,” Trump said on Fox News earlier this month. “He’s hit a little bit of a nerve, I think he really has. And a lot of Democrats I know want to vote for him.”

In April, Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, an influential voice on the far right, said on his podcast that “Bobby Kennedy would be an excellent choice for President Trump to consider” for vice president. Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, has repeatedly floated the idea of him joining Trump’s ticket or serving in his cabinet.

Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence is also pursuing the Republican nomination.

For his part, Kennedy has entertained the idea of aligning with Republicans. In a NewsNation town hall in June, he said "I’m proud that President Trump likes me even though I don’t agree with him on most of his issues.”

And in May, he told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham he “would think about” serving in a Republican administration, specifically mentioning the Department of Health and Human Services.

“I would not reject that out of hand,” Kennedy said. “I think I could do a lot of good for the country and for public health at HHS.”