What did Donald Trump do today?

He nominated a conspiracy theorist for Surgeon General and then said he didn't know much about her.

Yesterday, Trump announced that Casey Means, a self-described "wellness influencer" with a lapsed medical license, was his latest nominee for Surgeon General of the United States. 

Today, he had this to say about his decision-making process:

REPORTER: You just announced a new nominee for the US Surgeon General who never finished her residency, and is not a practicing physician. So can you explain why you picked her to be America's top doctor?  

TRUMP: Because Bobby thought she was fantastic, she's highly, uh, she's a brilliant woman who went through, uh, Stanford and as I understand it she basically wanted to do—she wanted to be an academic as opposed to a surgeon. Uh, I think she graduated first in her class at Stanford. And, uh, Bobby really thought she was great. I don't know her, I listened to the recommendation of Bobby, I met her, uh, yesterday, and once before, she's, uh, a very outstanding person. She's a great academic, actually. So I think she'll be great.

"Bobby" is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who struck a deal with Trump to drop out of the race in exchange for being made Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

There's no evidence that Means was "first in her class" because Stanford's medical school doesn't rank students like that. What is known is that she finished her medical school classes, then failed to complete the residency that is effectively required to practice medicine. Means apparently pursued an alternative licensing route—the information released by the White House does not elaborate—but she is not currently licensed to practice medicine.

Means describes herself as a "wellness influencer"—possibly because describing herself as a doctor would be legally dicey. "Wellness" can mean many things that are known to be good for health, like exercise, mental health care, or a balanced diet. But it's also favored by "influencers" with products to sell or who use promises of better health to advance political agendas. Means shares Kennedy's anti-vaccine stance and subscribes to a number of unscientific or unproven theories, including disproven conspiracy theories about autism and birth control. 

Kennedy's former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, reacted with horror to the news and noted that she'd forced Kennedy to promise that Means, specifically, would never be given an appointment.

This is the third day in a row that Trump has said he doesn't really know much about he did something, or let something be done on his authority.

Why does this matter?

• "Someone told me to" isn't a good enough reason for a president to make appointments, much less one this important.
  

• Americans' health is more important than paying off Donald Trump's political debts.