Rep. Ben Quayle on Tuesday defended swimming in Israel's Sea of Galilee last summer, saying he and other congressmen wanted to be where Jesus walked on water and that “there was no inappropriate or unusual behavior that I saw.”
“We were having a great dinner at the Sea of Galilee, it was the end of a very long day. And, you know, some people had been talking about, ‘This is the only opportunity that we will be able to go into the sea where Jesus walked on water,’ and the story that was in POLITICO and the picture that was being really painted was not what I saw or was around,” the Arizona Republican said on Fox News.
Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.) was the only congressman to swim nude during the incident, as POLITICO reported Monday. But Quayle said he “did not see him in the behavior that he was talking about and that he admitted.”
“I was not around when Congressman Yoder entered the water. I was not in the water or near any of that, but I was able to go in properly attired, I have to say that, and swim very briefly in the Sea of Galilee, and I actually was able to take a little vial of water home to baptize my daughter, with this water from the Sea of Galilee,” he said.
Quayle said that he “had a glass of wine maybe at dinner,”
He also questioned whether, as reported, the FBI investigated the incident.
“That’s the one part of the story that was really confusing, because when people started talking about that and the reporter did, there was no questioning of me or anybody else on the trip and so that’s what I think that is a little confusing and a lot of people are starting to see that that’s getting debunked,” he said. “So I think that that’s one of the areas where I think the story is completely wrong.”
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