France should take back the Statue of Liberty because the US no longer represents the values that led France to offer the statue, a French MEP said Sunday.
“Give us back the Statue of Liberty”, centre-Left politician Raphael Glucksmann said at a convention of his Place Publique centre-left movement.
Mr Glucksmann rose to prominence last summer and has become a key figure in the increasingly powerful Leftist alliance in France.
His comments come as Donald Trump’s presidency has spread widespread fears about the future of European security and democracy in America.
“We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty’,” Mr Glucksmann told cheering supporters.
“We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home,” he added.
The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in New York City’s harbour on October 28 1886, for the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence as a gift from the French people to America. It was designed by Frenchman Auguste Bartholdi.
Paris does have a far smaller copy of the statue on a small island on the Seine in Paris.
Glucksmann, a staunch defender of Ukraine, has strongly criticised Mr Trump’s radical change of US policy on the war.
He also took aim at Trump’s cuts to US research institutions, which have already prompted a French government initiative to attract some of them to work in France
“The second thing we’re going to say to the Americans is: ‘if you want to fire your best researchers, if you want to fire all the people who, through their freedom and their sense of innovation, their taste for doubt and research, have made your country the world’s leading power, then we’re going to welcome them’,” continued Glucksmann.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January, his government has cut federal research funding and sought to dismiss hundreds of federal workers working on health and climate research.
Glucksmann also criticised far-Right leaders in France, accusing them of being a “fan club” for Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who is spearheading the president’s efforts to cut spending.
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im_a_squishy_ai on March 17th, 2025 at 07:30 UTC »
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
This is ironically a good message for the rest of the world to be sending to America right now.
Corporate controlled apartments where rent is controlled by one company's algorithm to maximize rent collection, over priced groceries controlled by 3-4 corporations, housing market so over priced that 75% of Americans either can't or can barely afford the median home price for a decent house. Talk of things coming back like corporate towns, housing, and stores. America is now more like the places people fled from than the place they were fleeing to
throwaway_ghast on March 17th, 2025 at 07:04 UTC »
What's the shipping cost on that thing gonna be?
Watashi_wa_sutaa on March 17th, 2025 at 06:40 UTC »
“We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty’,” Mr Glucksmann told cheering supporters.