• New pictures show Kerry on kayak as he  celebrates July 4 holiday
• Secretary of State’s aides retract denial  that he had been sailing

By  Jessica Jerreat

PUBLISHED: 15:55 EST, 5 July  2013 |  UPDATED: 16:53  EST, 5 July 2013

John Kerry’s spokesman  has admitted that the  Secretary of State did go sailing off Nantucket as the Egyptian President was  ousted from power, after pictures emerged of him out on the water on July  4.

The Secretary of State had been criticized  for taking a vacation with his family at his holiday home in Nantucket, as Egypt  plunged into crisis.

New pictures of Mr Kerry on a kayak and a  boat in Nantucket Sound on July 4 have now surfaced after his spokesman  forcefully denied he went sailing after an earlier photo was posted to Twitter. 

 

Rough crossing: John Kerry is seen boarding a boat in  Nantucket Sound on July 4

 

Retraction: John Kerry’s spokesman was forced to retract  her denial that the Secretary of State has been enjoying water sports during the  Egyptian crisis

‘It doesn’t look good, and I think it sends  the wrong message,’ Republican strategist Brad Marston told the Boston  Herald. ‘If I were advising him,  I’d already have him on a plane.’

Mr Kerry had already been spotted near July 4  festivities in the center of town earlier in the day, but the latest pictures  showed him loading bags into a boat near his holiday home.

The State  Department was forced to retract  its denial that he had been sailing on Friday, conceding that Mr Kerry had taken  his grandson out on the yacht for an hour on Wednesday. 

‘While he was briefly on his boat on  Wednesday, Secretary Kerry worked around the clock all day including  participating in the president’s meeting with his national security  council,’  spokesman Jen Psaki said.

It is a reversal of her original statement,  when Ms Psaki had said: ‘Any report or tweet that he was on a boat is completely  inaccurate.’

His aides even denied Mr Kerry was on a boat  when CBS sent them a photo of the Secretary of State on board his yacht.

With the Egyptian military ousting President  Morsi and violent deaths being reported in the country,  many people in  Nantucket were surprised to see Mr Kerry at his holiday home  rather than in  Washington.

 

Time out: As his presidential campaign started to go  wrong in 2004 John Kerry was spotted wind surfing

‘I would think the Secretary of State would  interrupt his vacation and at least send a very clear signal – even by flying  back to Washington for a day or two – that on our Independence Day we are very  concerned about the freedom and democracy that we hope is instilled for some  period of time in the Arab World,’ Patrick Griffin, Republican strategist,  said.

Mr Kerry’s unexpected vacation has been  charted on Twitter after residents started noting his moves around the town,  which  could have gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for a video allegedly showing his motorcade getting stuck in traffic as he arrived earlier in the week.

Despite admitting that he had gone sailing,  his aides insisted that Mr Kerry had been in regular phone contact with world  leaders and had taken part in White House meetings after the first  democratically elected Egyptian president was ousted.

An aide to the Secretary of State, who had  just returned from a 12-day tour of the Middle East, told theBoston  Globe the earlier denial had been  a result of ‘confusion’, and confirmed Mr Kerry had gone sailing with his  grandson.

According to Ms Psaki he had spoken to  leaders and diplomats in Egypt, Israel, Norway, Qatar  and the United Arab  Emirates – all while on vacation in Nantucket.

However, an aide said none of the phone calls  were made while he was on his yacht, according to ABC  News.

Mr Kerry has been criticized previously for  taking to the water during difficult political times.

During his 2004 presidential election  campaign he drew derision after being pictured wind surfing as his campaign fell  apart.

 

Turmoil: Opponents of President Morsi celebrate his  removal near the presidential palace in Cairo

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