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French politician says US should return Statue of Liberty

David Matthews, New York Daily News on

Published in News & Features

A French European parliament member quipped over the weekend that the U.S. should return the Statue of Liberty to France after President Donald Trump decided “to side with the tyrants” against Ukraine.

Raphaël Glucksmann, a a member of the European Parliament and co-president of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, a small left-wing party in France, suggested in a speech Sunday that the U.S. was no longer worthy of the gift it received from France in the 1880s.

Glucksmann accused Trump and other Americans of choosing “to switch to the side of the tyrants.”

“Give us back the Statue of Liberty,” he joked. “It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us.”

Glucksmann’s comments came after the administration suspended aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine to speed up negotiations to end the war, which started in Feb. 2022 when Russian launched its invasion.

The U.S. later resumed intelligence sharing and security support amid productive talks on a ceasefire proposal.

Glucksmann also alluded to the current administration’s immigration policies, by referencing New York poet Emma Lazarus’ words about the statue, the “mighty woman with a torch” who welcomed the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

 

“Today, this land is ceasing to be what it was,” he said.

Trump’s White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, dismissed Glucksmann’s demand Monday, describing him as an “unnamed low-level French politician” who should be grateful he isn’t speaking German, a reference to the Nazi’s invasion of the country during World War 2.

Glucksmann’s request is unlikely to be granted.

UNESCO, the United Nations’ organization that includes the statue on list of World Heritage sites, says the statue belongs to the U.S. government.

It was transported to the U.S. in 350 pieces in 1885 and was officially unveiled Oct. 28, 1886.

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